The Dark Blade Alchemist
by masterXofXalchemy
Summary: Takes place about 90 to 100 years after the fma movie.Its about a state alchemist named Hikari who uncovers a dangerous secret about her family.You may notice a few familiar names from the original fma. The summery isnt that good, plz readreview.
1. Chapter 1: It begins

Characters:

Hikari Blackstone: a 15-year-old state alchemist called "the Dark Blade alchemist". Her parents were killed when she was a child and after the death of her older brother, Hikari breaks the taboo of human transmutation and tries to bring him back. Needless to say, she failed and ended up with an automail right arm and the power to use alchemy without a circle. She joins the state alchemists so she can find out what her brother was researching before and how it resulted in his death. Now she and her two childhood friends, Vince and Caleb are searching for answers. Answers to why Hikari's family was killed and to find out the deadly secret that the Blackstone's have been keeping for centuries. Her personality is usually happy and upbeat but can change in an instant to serious if the situation calls for it. She is completely loyal to her friends and would do anything to protect them. Her favorite thing to do is to prove Vince wrong about something they were arguing about. Her biggest pet peeve is when people call her kid or (this sound familiar?) short.

Vince Mollis: 16-year-old friend of Hikari's. He's a master of technology although lacking in common sense. He has a strong heart and would do anything to help Hikari or his step-brother Caleb. Vince and his mother, Elenea, came from New Ishbal (yes, it is a country in this fan fic!) to Amestris and met Caleb's father, Cid. Vince acts like a big tough guy but really, he has a heart of gold and can't resist helping someone in need. However, you DO NOT want to get on his bad side. His weapons of choice are two hand guns that are usually loaded with liquid knock out gas pellets but he occasionally switches to deadly bullets (depending on how urgent the occasion is) he detests killing but will if he or his friends are threatened. He loves to joke around and get Hikari pissed off. However, according to Caleb, Vince secretly has a crush on Hikari.

Caleb Links: 15-year-old friend of Hikari and step-brother of Vince. He's an amazing automail engineer and used to help his father out in his automail-repair shop as a child. Caleb is the most level headed one in the group and constantly keeps Hikari and Vince from killing each other when they begin to argue (which is often) He and Vince aren't biological brothers but they act like they are. They're so close (who does this sound like?) you'd never know they weren't related by blood. Caleb's mother died after she gave birth to him leaving him and his father alone until Vince and his mother came along when Vince and Caleb where both around 4-years-old. Caleb is a master of karate, ninjitsu, and many other fighting styles. He normally fights with kunai or hand to hand. He sometimes uses a gun but prefers his fists. He is normally quiet and reserved but loosens up when it's just him and his friends. Caleb very rarely loses his cool but it's been known to happen in a crisis. He loves to flirt with girls and tease Vince about his supposed crush on Hikari.

Renee Mustang: Ha Ha! The last name was a surprise wasn't it? She's the grand daughter of (wanna guess?) the one the only, Roy Mustang!!! But that's not all! She's also (are you ready?) the Furher!!! Bet that was a shocker, right? She is also the new Flame Alchemist and the god mother of ………..Hikari Blackstone! Renee and Hikari's mother were both state alchemists and best friends so its not a surprise that Renee was named her god mother. Although a few people aren't very happy with a woman Furher, Renee has made her career off fixing the messes that the furher before her, Darwin Sanchez, left behind after he died. She brought the country out of the war ridden state that it had been in before and made it a prosperous and peace filled land. Although she is Hikari's god mother, she doesn't give the kid any easy rides! Renee never plays favorites among her subordinates and that includes Hikari. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't watch out for her, she still considers Hikari a "little kid" and tries to make sure that she stays out of trouble (this doesn't always work out well) Renee (like Roy) has great ambitions for herself and the country.

Seth Rivers: He's a state alchemist called "The Red Light" alchemist and a colonel. He's who Hikari files her reports to and prompted her to take the alchemy exam. He was a close friend of Hikari's brother, Tristan (the "White Lightning" alchemist). His sarcasm and lazy personality make him seem more like Roy's descendant then Renee. He and Hikari have a very similar relationship to that of Ed and Roy's; Hikari hates him with a passion and Seth constantly sends Hikari out on missions so he won't have to complete them himself. In spite of his slacking attitude, Seth has complete loyalty from those who follow him and is considered the all around good guy by everyone………except by Hikari.

CHAPTER 1

"Where the hell is that damn car?!" Hikari yelled angrily. Her two friends, Vince and Caleb, knew exactly how she felt, they'd been waiting outside the train station for the past 2 hours waiting for a car that was suppose to take them to Central Commend. Hikari was very impatient and the heat wasn't doing much to improve her mood. "It was SUPPOSE to be here at exactly 2:30. It is now…" she flipped open her silver State Alchemist pocket watch and checked the time."….5:49!!!How the hell did it get that late?! Oh crud, I was hoping to be OUT of Central by now….."The reason they were in Central City now was because Hikari had to give her monthly report to Col. Rivers. This was something that she detested doing. She detested col. Rivers even more. "Hey, Kari can ya calm done a bit? You're making a scene" Vince whispered to her. It was true; almost every head outside the station was turned curiously toward the three youths on the sidewalk.

"Fine, I'll TRY to calm done..." she said sulkily and sat down on a near by bench. "This is odd," Caleb said. "The colonel usually sends a guy right on time to meet us…". "Yeah," said Vince looking up from the corndog he was devouring. "Maybe we should call and make sure we're in the right place…" he looked at Hikari. She was the only one of them with a working cell phone. "What? No way am I using my precious cell phone minutes to call someone whom I have no desire to talk to!" "Fine then," Caleb said with a grin. "I guess we'll just have to wait in this sweltering heat, which means we have to spend MORE time in central and LESS time researching." Hikari threw him a nasty look "Have I ever mentioned that I hate it when you're right?" "Only every day" he shot back playfully.Hikari gave him another withering glance as she whipped out her cell phone and dialed the number. The phone was black, like most of the things Hikari owned. She was wearing a black, sleeveless shirt with a black coat that had a red alchemy symbol on the back, over it. Her jeans were baggy and had chains hanging from them. These too were black and her dark wardrobe (combined with her right arm of automail) drew worried glances from mothers who held their children closer and were careful to stay out of her path. This was a normal response to her clothes so she ignored it. Her hair was a dazzling silver color and her eyes were a deep, icy blue that had a cold glint in them. Her companions' attire was far less outlandish then her own, Caleb wore a green tee shirt with blue jeans that set off his green eyes and blonde hair perfectly. Vince had on a white tee shirt with gray jeans with his reddish-hazel hair and bright red eyes.

Hikari finished dialing her number and waited for someone on the other side to pick up. Someone did but not who she had expected. "Central Command, Col. River's office, how can I help you?" "Hector?" Hikari said in surprise. She had been expecting the colonel to answer. Figures he'd get someone ELSE to answer his phone for him. "Hey, Hikari? Well, well I haven't seen you around here lately. What's up? You need to talk to Seth?"

"Ahh, no, no……you just caught me a little off guard. Since when are you Rivers' secretary?" Hikari replied hastily. There was a chuckle on the other side as Hector answered "It's just a one time gig. There was a bombing down town earlier this week, no one was hurt thankfully, but there've been people calling all day asking what Seth intends to do about it, downtown being his jurisdiction and all. He went out for a walk and I'm holding down the fort." "I see, was the bombing resistance work?" Hikari answered, thankful that she didn't have to talk to the Col. "we suspect so but we have no evidence saying it was them so we officially have no idea." Hikari was silent for a moment and then said, "Where did you say the bombing was again?" "I didn't." Hector replied coolly "and if I did give you that information what would you be planning to do with it? Go after them yourself? Listen Hikari, we're not even sure that it WAS the resistance; it could have just been some wack job setting off bombs for his own amusement." Hikari was silent on the other line. She hated the resistance for the reason that they had killed her mother. No one ever gave her any information about the resistance knowing that she would most likely go after them herself. "I wasn't planning on doing anything, just curious that's all." She silently cursed herself for being so eager for information. It's none of my business, she told herself. They can handle it without me; I have more important things to do. "Uh-huh, I bet." Hector said skeptically, "oh yeah, why did you call in the first place? According to Seth's files, you should have been here a few hours ago." "That's the problem!" Hikari said, "The stupid car that was supposed to pick us up never came!!" "Well…….um….lieutenant Ruston was that one who was supposed to be driving…….he's a new recruit and may not have been expecting……ummm….." "'ummmm' what?" Hikari said getting angry. "Well…" Hector tried to chose his words carefully. Hikari's temper was legendary around Central. "Alright I'm just gonna say it, maybe he wasn't expecting a couple of KIDS!!!" he waited for the explosion that was Hikari's temper but it never came. She must be learning self control, he thought. About time too. Hikari was struggling to keep her voice leveled, "fine, we'll go look for him, he's wearing military uniform right? He won't be THAT hard to spot." "Wow, Hikari, that's so out of character for you. It's so optimistic." Said Vince who had been listening in on the phone call. She gave him an I'm-not-going-to-kill-you-now-because-we're-in-public-but-you-are-so-dead-later look. He replied by pretending to be scared. "Thanks Hector, bye" she said into the phone "buh-bye kid" he replied and hung up before Hikari could register that he had called her a kid. She sniffed angrily and put her phone away. "So what's the problem? Are we getting a ride or walking to HQ?" Caleb said. "I REALLY hope that we're not walking, it's about a mile or two away…." Vince complained. "Relax guys…." Hikari said, "All we gotta do is find a guy wearing military uniform and convince him that he came here for us." "Yeah that'll be a real snap." Said Vince sarcastically, "Like he'll believe that a pipsqueak like Kari is actually a state alchemist. Especially with the way she's dressed…….." Hikari punched him on the shoulder. "Ohh, I'm soooo scared of the LITTLE girl and her WEAK punches" Vince said, challenging her. (Now, Vince did two things that are very dangerous to do. He insulted Hikari's strength AND called her short at the same time. Imagine what Ed's reaction to this would have been and you'll get what Hikari's was)

Before Hikari could have done any REAL damage to Vince, Caleb came between them and said, "Shouldn't we at least look for our ride? After that, you two can kill each other all ya want and I won't stop you." Hikari and Vince decided to continue their fight later and began to scan the crowd for a man wearing a military uniform. They found him rather quickly. It wasn't hard to spot the heavy, blue military uniform among crowds of tang-tops, tee-shirts, and shorts.

They approached him as Hikari said, "uhhh….sir?" he looked up. "Are you by any chance Lieutenant Ruston?" "Yes, I am." He replied, "And who are you?" "I'm Hikari Blackstone .I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to pick us up here, right?" For a moment the man looked confused, them he smiled and broke into a loud laugh. Hikari stared at him, her temper rising, knowing what was coming next. "Thanks kid, I needed a laugh now you and your friends can run along now." "Who the hell are you calling a kid!!!!" the only thing that stopped her from trying to kill the man was Vince's hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and calmed down. "look sir, regardless of what my age is I AM a state alchemist, here's my watch as proof." She reached into her pocket and took out her silver state alchemist pocket watch. As the lieutenant eyed it skeptically Hikari added, "I can transmute something if you want, to prove my identity…". Ruston looked up from his inspection of the watch and said, "Ahh….no that wont be necessary…..please follow me to the car…." He began walking towards the parking lot with Hikari, Vince and Caleb behind him. Vince and Caleb were trying desperately hard to keep Hikari from noticing their urge to laugh. She noticed. "Yeah, this is REAL funny! Wanna know what else is funny? Broken bones!!" she said quietly. The threat just made the boys laugh out loud. Ruston turned around and said, "Here we are" as he opened the back door of the car to let the three youths inside. Great, he thought. My four year training at the military academy and for what? To play doorman for some pipsqueak alchemist and her friends. I should have listened to my mother and went into the dry cleaning business when I had the chance……he got into the drivers seat and began toward central headquarters and (to Hikari's displeasure) to Col. Seth Rivers.

"So, you're telling me that you learned absolutely NOTHING while in Liore?" Col. Seth Rivers said to Hikari (who was, at the moment, resisting the urge to give a sarcastic remark). Instead, she swallowed her pride and said, "I already told you, the city was almost completely deserted. Liore is out in the desert!!!And in this heat, all of the smart people packed up and left on vacation the minute they could!!" They went to Liore searching for a man name Dr. D.J Albert who had help Hikari's brother, Tristan, on a project he had been working on. Tristan had died before finishing it.Hikari was hoping that the doctor would have some kind of clue as to why her brother was murdered.

When the three had gotten to the desert city, it had resembled a ghost town. Hardly anyone was to be seen in out in the intense heat of the sun. All of the people who couldn't leave had been locked inside their homes with a T.V and air conditioner. The only person who had actually been willing to talk to them was Vince's cousin, Monica. Monica was 15 and the only person who could even come close to beating Hikari in hand to hand combat. She had told them that the man they were searching for had packed up over a month ago and no one knew where he went. Since all of their leads had ended up dry, they had decided to stay in Liore a few more days as a mini-vacation. The heat was pretty bad but they had fun and now, Hikari was bitterly wishing that she had taken Monica up on her offer of staying for another week. To Hikari, ANYTHING would have been better then being at the Colonel's office in Central. She was expecting Rivers' to make some sarcastic remark or start giving her a long lecture about how she should have come back to Central right away instead of wasting precious time(and military resources) in Liore if she had no business there. However, he did something VERY out of character that made Hikari wonder if he was sick, he sighed and said, "Well, I guess it cant be helped if he had already left a month ago. You did your best..." Hikari was speechless; she opened her mouth then closed it again. She had no idea how to react to this side of the colonel, he usually said things like, 'you could have done better!' or 'you should have known that that was false information!' but he NEVER just said 'you did your best' and left it at that. Hikari thought that it was actually a bit scarier then when the Colonel was yelling, at least then she knew what to expect. "Ummm...if that's all you needed me for...I'll be going now...". She quickly got up and headed for the door but, before she even had her hand on the doorknob, the colonel said, "Not so fast Dark blade, I have some information here that I think you should know about." He gestured for her to sit again. Hikari sighed, THIS was the colonel that she knew and loathed. She slowly walked over to the chair and sat again. "So, what is this information?" She said as she sat down. "Well I'm not even entirely sure that I should be telling you this, it might scare you a little." Hikari was about to laugh, then she looked up and saw Rivers' eyes. He was dead serious. Hikari suppressed a shiver, whatever he said probably WOULD scare her, but she wouldn't let him know that. Instead she said, "Ok, so what makes it so bad that you think it would scare me?" The Colonel turned to looked at her, "Someone's been asking quiet a lot of questions, about you". Hikari gulped and said, "I'm confused, that's creepy, I'll admit but it isn't very scary". "That's not the scary part. The scary part is WHO is asking then questions, and I'll tell you", the Colonel said as he pressed a button on the computer keyboard on his desk. An image of a man appeared on the monitor near his desk. The man's face was badly scarred and his mouth seemed to be twisted into a permanent sneer. On his arm was a long tattoo of a green snake with eerie bright red eyes painted on it. Just looking at the image made Hikari shiver. "This is the guy who's been asking so many questions about you. His name is Jake Hunt but he's mostly known by his nickname, 'The Green Viper'. We don know much about him except that he works for the resistance". The colonel's voice was strange, like he was trying to hide something from Hikari."What exactly does he do for the resistance?" she said, fighting to keep her voice clear and calm. She was scared that she already knew the answer to her question. The Colonel looked at her, "This is the part that I was afraid would scare you. He's an assassin, Hikari. One of the best too, his success rate is 100". "So why exactly is he so interested in me? What did I do to piss off the resistance so much?" Hikari said. She was a little proud of herself, the Colonel's information had more then scared her, it had terrified her but, her voice was still calm and cool." My informants aren't entirely sure that he's been hired to kill you. He may just be interested in your career; a lot of other people sure as hell are". The colonel said. Hikari was able to muster up a smile at this. She certainly WAS a very unusual case. Passing the state alchemy exam at age 11(with top marks on the written portion!) and having a mysterious name (The Dark blade Alchemist) was enough to grab anyone's attention. Even a world class assassin would probably be impressed. However, even though Hikari's mind was a little more at peace with the thought that she probably would not be an assassin's next victim, Col. Seth River's mind was racing. He didn't believe for a second that Hunt was interested in Hikari because of her achievements; he had only said that so Hikari wouldn't worry. It would be bad if she left here in a panic and Hunt cornered her in some alley, she wouldn't be able to think straight. No one would if they knew an assassin was after them, especially a 15-year-old girl. "Well, that's all so you can leave now if you want...". He said as he gestured to the door. Hikari quickly got up and left.

The minute she had closed the door behind her, Seth picked up his phone and dialed a number. Someone picked up, "Hello. Central Internal Investigations, how can i help you?" said the voice on the other line. "This is Col. Seth Rivers; please connect me to Major Hector Hughes". "Right away sir". A few moments later Hector picked up. "Hey, 'sup Seth? Any problems?"."Hi, Hec. We have a bit of a problem". He quickly explained the situation about Hikari and 'The Viper'. When he was finished, Hughes was already flipping through files on his computer. "So, you want to place a body guard on the kid without her knowing, right?" Seth smiled, "It's like you read my mind. So what options do we have?"."Let's see here...Armstrong's on vacation..."Hughes replied as he scanned the data. "Which one?" Rivers' asked, referring to the twin Armstrong brothers. One was a state alchemist and the other worked in the Internal Investigations branch of the military. "Both", Hughes replied. "Some kinda family thing, i think their grandfather is turning 120 today and he's a retired war hero so the higher ups gave the guys a few days off". He paused for a minute, "Well, Leng and Nolmes are free, they're both just warrant officers but they're expected to get to higher places". "They'll do fine and besides, they're only there if something goes wrong. I'm pretty sure that if anything happens to Hikari, Vince and Caleb will take care of the problem", Seth replied. "Seth, you don't seriously think that the resistance actually wants Hikari dead, do you? I mean, she's just a kid and no danger to them. And hiring Hunt like that...what are they thinking?" Rivers was quiet for a moment then said, "You have to remember Hughes, they killed her mother and the Furher is almost 100 positive that they had a hand in the deaths of Tristan and Matt".Brigidiar General Matthew Blackstone had been a great leader in the military. Even after the death of his wife he still carried on his military duties and his role as a single father perfectly. "Wait, I know that Tristan's death was highly suspious but I thought they ruled the brig. General's death a suicide". Matthew Blackstone had been found in his office with a gun in his hand and a bullet hole through his head. Seth shook his head, "Hector, if you had met him, you would know that he was not the kind of guy who would abandon his two kids. He was in a bad state after Lauren died but was able to get through it because of Tristan and Hikari, he wouldn't have left them alone"." Well, being a father myself, I can see what your saying and it is highly unlikely that it was a suicide", Hector replied. "Well, I'll send over Leng and Nolmes over to you in an hour and you can give them their directions". There was a muffled sound in the background then a shuffle of papers."Whoa! Can i get back to ya later Seth? Linda just brought in a whole new stack of paper work that needs my signiture".Seth laughed, "yeah, bye".

He hung up the phone and stared out the window, thinking about what he had told Hikari and the conversation he had just had with Hector. Maybe it's nothing, he thought. Maybe the fact that Hunt is asking questions about Hikari is just a coincidence. He really wanted to believe that but, his better judge meant told him that there was trouble brewing and Hikari was somehow at the center of it. At that moment, Seth Rivers didn't know how right he was.

While Seth was having his phone conversation with Hector, another conversation concerning Hikari was taking place. "The little brat's back in Central". said a tall women. "Yes...I know that." said another woman. "but that assassin, Hunt, is there as well and rumor has it that his next victim is the girl" said the tall one. The other women put her hand to her temple for a and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened her eyes and said, "Send one of the others there to watch over her, we cant afford to let her die...no...we've come to close". "As you wish, master". The tall women left the room and came into another occupied by a young man. "Go to Central and watch over the kid, those are the master's orders". She said to him. He only nodded and made his way down a dark flight of stairs.

Trouble was brewing and Hikari did indeed seem to be at the center of it all.


	2. Chapter 2: The Hunter

CHAPTER 2

"Are you sure you won't need a ride, Miss Blackstone?" asked Lieutenant Ruston. His earlier resentment towards her had softened after he heard about her family from a passing cadet. Hikari smiled and said, "No that wont be necessary", she said. Vince shot her a look. The minute Hikari had left the Colonel's office; she had told Vince and Caleb what he had said. As Ruston drove away, Vince immediately turned to Hikari and said, "Are you out of your freakin mind?!!" Hikari said nothing as she turned and walked away. "You refuse a nice, safe ride from a military operative who has a gun in case a highly trained assassin happens to show up, and walk on the street instead?! I repeat, you are out of you freakin mind." Vince was acting angry but, inside, he was very badly worried. He was afraid that, if Hunt _did_ show up soon, Hikari wouldn't be able to fight him or he and Caleb wouldn't be enough to protect her..."Its ok." Hikari said as she continued walking down the street. "I have a plan". "A plan?! What kind of plan could you possibly have to prepare for a highly paid, world class assassin?!" Vince replied angrily. Caleb looked from the two of them and said, "Kari, Vince is right, the best plan you could have is to lay low and possibly look into getting a bodyguard...". Hikari stopped short, "No" she said. "No way in hell am I getting a bodyguard!!!!".Vince and Caleb exchanged looks. They knew the Colonel would most likely assign a bodyguard to Hikari and would not tell her about it. They decided not to pursue the issue. "Well, why don't we drop in on dad and Elenea? We haven't seen them in a while."Said Caleb, trying to change the subject. "Yeah, let's do that." Vince said, "Hey Hikari you coming?". He asked as he saw her turn away. "Yeah..." She answered, "But later, I think I'll stop by the cemetery first...". "Do you want us to come with you?" Caleb asked concern in his voice. "No...". She said, "I'll go by myself and you guys haven't been home in a while right? I'll come by later."."Well ok if that's what you want...but you know if you don't come later my mom will be mad that you didn't come in and stay for a while...". Said Vince smiling. Hikari looked up at him and grinned, "No worries.", She said. "I know better then to offend Elenea!" They then turned and went their separate ways, completely unknowing that they were being watched, and by more than one person.

Jake Hunt lowered the binoculars that he had been looking into. Good, they were splitting up, that would make his job easier. He had been watching the trio from the top of a nearby building that was, at the moment, unoccupied. He didn't really like the idea of killing a kid (especially a girl) but well, money was money and if he didn't make this girl disappear, the resistance would make HIM disappear. Actually, he thought to himself, I might not have to kill her at all. His mission was to try to convince the kid to join the resistance movement or kill her if she refused. He got paid both ways so he didnt care much at all. And, after doing some research on her family, it was very unlikely that she would even consider joining the resistance. He held the binoculars to his face again and followed her with his eyes. I should get going, he thought, I might lose her. He quickly got his equipment and climbed down the fire escape and onto the street.

"Well, well, well, looks like our boy Hunt is on the move." Said a boy. He was pretty small and looked about 12 or so and wore a plain black sweat shirt and dark blue jeans. He had jet black hair, pale skin and eerie purple eyes. He turned to the other person standing on the roof with him. "Should we follow him or just kill him before he reaches the girl?" The boy said. The other figure thought for a moment. He was older then his companion and looked to be about 18. He wore a black, baggy jacket and a hood that obscured his face. "Follow him." he said, "I don't want to have any unnecessary blood shed going on, people might ask questions.". He turned to leave. The moment he left the roof top the boy sneered and muttered, "You're taking all of the fun out of this, Pride." He then followed him down the fire escape and onto the street, after Hunt and Hikari.

Hikari stopped outside the florist shop and went inside. A cheerful looking man in a blue apron answered the door. "Can I help you with anything, Miss?" He asked pleasantly. She smiled and said, "Do you have any Sunflowers, Daisies, or Lilacs?" She asked. The man thought for a second and smiled, "Yes we have some of each, they for a special occasion?" "Kinda...I'm going to visit my family and I haven't seen them in a while so I thought I might bring them something." she answered. The man smiled brightly and said,"That's wonderful! How many would you like of each flower?"."Two of each would be good." she said, "and do you have any plastic vases that I could set them in?". "Yes we do and...you seem like a nice girl so I'll let you have three vases for free, you can pick out the colors too.". Hikari tried to protest but the man insisted.

Finally, she chose three vases then thanked the man for his generosity and left. She held the flowers in one hand and the bag holding the vases in the other as she walked down the street. She came to the cemetery entrance and went to the gate house so they would open the gates. The man sitting there looked tired and very unpleasant. "Yeah, what do ya want?" He said rudely. He took one look at Hikari's clothes (complete black-on-black) and said, "What are you doing here? We don't allow hoodlum scum like you in!" Hikari wasn't in the mood to argue and said as evenly as she could, "I'm here to visit a few people inside." "Oh yeah? And what might the names be?" He said, thinking that he caught her in some kind of lie. "Not that it's any of your business but I'm here to visit my family. Name's Blackstone." The man opened his mouth then closed it in semi-shock. Blackstone! He thought, damn! This kid is from one of those old, powerful military families! But wait...there's no way this could be Hikari Blackstone...I heard she's a state alchemist and this girl is WAY too young. He smiled slyly and said, "Fine, but I'll need some proof of you're identity, ya know, for security reasons.". Hikari lost her temper. "You want proof?! Fine HERES your damn proof!!!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her silver state alchemist watch and flung it into the man's hands. "I trust THAT will be enough proof for you!" She said as the man gaped at her and the watch. "Now," she said, fighting to keep her voice level. "Will you open the gates?". The man nodded dumbly and handed her watch back to her as he pressed the button on his switch board and the gate flung open. As she left she said pleasantly, "Have a nice day!", and carried the flowers and the vases out. The man just waved slightly then turned away and started to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Hi Mom, Dad, Tristan!" Hiakri said as she approached three graves that were next to each other. They were in a beautiful courtyard surrounded by flowers and a lovely gray fountain in the center. Near there was a small, decorative building. That was the Blackstone family crept. It had become full about 200 years before which was why most of the more recent family members were outside it. The surrounding 120 square miles were all Blackstone property and many of Hikari's relatives were buried there. She had once tried counting the graves with Tristan but there were so many that they gave up after 135. The grave site had been in the family for almost 1000 years. But Hikari didnt pay attention to the masses of other graves. There were only three that held her interest now. "I brought you flowers." She said as she knelt down beside her mother's grave. "I got Daisies for Dad, Lilacs for Mom and Sunflowers for Tristan." She placed each of the flowers in the vases and then onto the graves.

For a while, she just sat on the grass and talked about what happened in Liore and the conversation she had in the Colonel's office. She looked up at the setting sun and said, "It's getting pretty late, I should leave. I'll come back tomorrow and bring Vince and Caleb with me; they haven't seen you guys in a while." She got up to leave and suddenly stood straight up. She had seen something moving out of the corner of her eye. "Is anyone there?" She asked keeping the fear out of her voice, the seriousness of what the Colonel had said to her came flooding back. She held her breath as a figure came out from behind a tree. She let out a sigh of relief. The person standing there was a boy of a bout 15 or 16. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. "Sorry if I scared you," he said politely, "I got kinda lost, this place sure is big, isn't it?". Hikari was relieved that this boy wasn't Hunt but she was still wary of him. The place was big but the Blackstone land started almost a mile before this. He would of had to of been lost for quite a while. "Yeah, it's pretty big." She replied. The boy smiled and said, "I'm Devon DeWinters, who are you?"Hikari replied, "Hikari Blackstone." The boy's eyes lit up with understanding."Blackstone..." He said,"That's the name on all of the graves around here, visiting some old, distant relatives?"."Well, not exactly. I'm here to see my brother...and my parents." She said. The boy's face fell, "Oh, I'm really sorry if I intruded on something private...I'm here visiting my grand father...he passed away a few years ago and...like I said, I got lost." He said, "Well, I'll be going now..." He turned to leave. "Wait.". Hikari said. The boy turned. "You're looking for the DeWinter plot, right? I'm pretty sure it's nearby, I could show you there." Devon smiled and said, "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks!" "No problem."Hikari said, "Besides, it gets kinda creepy here at night and its not very safe to walk around alone." They left the area and walked for a while then Devon said, "I'm sorry but did you say your name was _Hikari_ Blackstone?" She turned,"Yeah..." she said, a little confused, and did she _know_ this kid from any where? "I thought so," He said smiling again. "I _knew_ I recognized your name from some where, you're that state alchemist right? The one that they say is the youngest in the military's history?"."No, I'm not the youngest in _history_," she corrected him, "The Full Metal Alchemist was a state alchemist when _he_ was 15.But yeah, i am one.". She turned to him, "You've heard of me?" "Well, yeah!" He said, still smiling. "Not many girls gain state alchemist certification at age 11!". Hikari couldn't help but blush a little. She turned away so he wouldn't notice. He did and said, "Are you _blushing_? Come on, you must hear flattery like this all the time from over-excited fans like myself!"."Well, you'd be surprised what people think of a woman as an alchemist. The only reason that most of the higher ups 'approve' of me is because they are way too afraid of pissing off the Furher. Since she's an alchemist. They think anything they say against me, _she'll_ take as a personal insult." She said laughing. She was really starting to like Devon, and not because he complemented her (well, not _entirely_ for that reason). He just gave off the vibe of being a really easy person to talk to. They talked about multiple subjects for a while and, in only what seemed like a matter of minutes, they were at the cemetery gates. "Oh! I guess we walked a little too far," Hikari said looking back, "I think we passed it and didnt notice." "It's ok." Devon said, "It's getting late and I can always come back tomorrow. Besides...it was really great talking to you. Maybe we could do this again sometime...?" Hikari laughed, "Well, I don't know the cemetery is a pretty odd place to be meeting..."."How about we meet somewhere else? Like maybe at _Rita's_ over coffee or something?" Suggested Devon, naming one of the nearby coffee shops. Hikari thought for a minute than said, "Ok, call me when you'd like to meet there. Here's my number." She fished a scrap of paper out of her pocket and wrote her cell phone number on it. She handed it to him. He took it and said, "Ok, I'll call you later! Bye.". He turned to leave, "Bye.". Hikari said as he walked away. She then turned in the opposite direction and continued up the street.

As she was walking down the street, Hikari thought, Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give her phone number to a guy she had known for only a half hour...oh well, she could take care of herself if he didnt turn out to be safe. Hikari looked at her silver watch, Wow! Was it that late already? She had to hurry if she wanted to get to Elenea and Cid's before it got very dark out. Central was dangerous at night. She had only gone about 2 yards before she heard something behind her. She whirled around and looked behind her. No one was there. She let out a nervous laugh and said, "Come on Hikari, you're just being paranoid. No one's here." Her words weren't very convincing, even to herself. She continued walking, but was a little faster this time. "Hikari Blackstone?" A voice said. Hikari jumped slightly and looked up. A man was leaning on a brick wall ahead of her. His face looked badly scarred and he had a tattoo of a green serpent on his arm. There was no mistake; _this_ was Jake Hunt, the assassin. "Judging by your reaction, i suppose you know who I am and why I'm here." He said, smiling slightly. Hikari said nothing; she was looking around, searching for an escape route. "Out here is a little too open? Don't you think? How about we go this way..." He motioned to a narrow ally nearby. Hikari held her ground. She knew that if she went into that ally, she was as good as dead. "Oh? Don't feel like talking to me?" He said and pulled out a gun, "That's fine, but I suggest you follow me. That is, if you want to live a little longer. Hikari maintained a calm face but inside, she was desperately trying to work out an escape plan. Okay, she said to herself, if I don't follow him, he'll shoot me and he's way too close to miss. But, if I follow him, I might get a chance to counter attack, if I try that now, he'll shoot me before I get the chance... "Fine, I'll follow you." She said slowly. "Good, you're a smart kid. This way." He said and motioned to the ally again. As Hikari had suspected, the ally led to a dead end. Maybe I could make a door with alchemy, she thought. But he would notice what I would be doing and I can't transmute a door and block a bullet at the same time! Damn! Why did I ever go out alone? "So," Hunt said, "I have orders to convince you to join the resistance movement or kill you if you refuse. I get the same amount of money either way so I don't really care what you choose. But I will say this, I can tell when people are lying so don't even think about trying to con your way out of this. So, what'll it be? The resistance or the bullet?". He waved his gun threateningly. Hikari was so surprised by his offer that lying hadn't even had time to cross her mind. She then did something that surprised both herself and Hunt, she laughed. She laughed loud and long. Not a fake, scared laugh or a mocking laugh. She laughed like some one had just said a really funny joke. "Me? Join the resistance?! That must be a joke!" Hunt had expected her to say no but he didnt expect her to laugh in his face! Who the hell was this kid who would laugh in the face of some one who would kill her? However, he smiled and said, "I take it that that means you'd rather die?" he held up his gun, "Fine then, I hope you don't regret it.". Hikari saw her chance she ran towards him and placed a hand over her right arm. Her automail arm. In a flash of blue, alchemic light, her arm became a sharp, lethal blade. Hunt, who had dodged her swing at him, said, "Automail, huh? I was wondering why the military would give a name like 'Dark Blade' to a kid like you, but now I see why." Hikari smiled slightly and said, "This is only one of the three reasons why I got the name 'Dark Blade'. The other two reasons, well, pray that you never find out."."You're bluffing, kid. I've been doing research on you and I know that your little trick with your automail is the only thing you have going!" Hunt smiled, thinking that he had just seen through a lie of Hikari's. However, Hunt didnt know that he was dead wrong about that.Hikari launched another attack. This one combined martial arts style moves with swift swings from her transmuted blade. Hunt dodged all but one, Hikari landed a strong kick on his stomach and then flipped back to avoid his retaliation. Hunt whipped out his gun and unleashed a torrent of shots on Hikari. Hikari quickly dropped to her knees and placed her hands to the ground. A wall of think concrete rose up in front of her, blocking the shots Hunt was firing. This gave Hikari long enough to come up with a plan so, when the alchemically altered wall came crashing down, Hikari used the smoke from the destroyed concrete as cover as she ran at hunt and swiped at him with her blade. Hunt dodged just enough to avoid a serious wound but Hikari caused a gash on his stomach that made it painful to move. He sank to the floor and Hikari held the blade at his throat. "Hey kid...you know I still have a gun...right? I can shoot you...before you could dodge..." Hunt said between breaths. "Wanna bet I can slit your throat faster then you can pull the trigger?" Hikari replied threateningly. "Fine, I know when I'm beaten;" He dropped his gun and held his hands up. "Look, I'm unarmed. Why don't you and I just walk away from here like nothing happened, and get on with our separate lives, huh?" Hikari bit her lip for a moment, never once taking the blade away from Hunt's throat. "Fine," she said, "But if you try _anything_ I'll kill you, ok?" She picked up the gun he had dropped and flung it into an open gutter. She took the blade away from his throat and said, "You walk away first.". Hunt obeyed. When he was about 3 yards away, Hikari began walking in the opposite direction. She had barely gone 2 feet when she heard the gunshot.

Hunt had been planning on just walking away, he really had, but he had discovered a spare gun on him and this would damage his 100 success rate so...He had turned around and shot at Hikari. Hikari, hearing the gunshot a split second before the bullet hit her, had sidestepped it to avoid a serious injury but it had hit her left shoulder, causing nothing life threatening, but a great deal of pain. Hunt seeing that he had missed, began firing off shots, all directed at Hikari. Hikari, being almost completely exhausted already, only had time to raise a single, thin concrete wall with alchemy. The wall shattered and Hikari was hit by one of the larger falling pieces. She lost consciousness. Her last thoughts before giving into sleep were, I'm going to die. Its really going to happen...Vince...Caleb...

Hunt had seen her fall and thought, well, looks like my lucks changing! I only have a few bullets left and I'll only need one to finish her off in this state...He lifted his gun and aimed at the unconscious girl. At that moment, something strange happened. A figure in dark clothes had suddenly stepped into his line of fire. "Hey, you! Are you a freakin moron or something!!??Cant ya see I'm busy?!" The figure looked up. Hunt noticed that his face was covered by a black hood. The figure spoke, he said," I'll give you one warning, go home now. Leave the girl alone and I won't hurt you." Hunt sneered, "Why should I listen to you? I'm the one with the gun! You're in no position to make bargains, buddy!"."Oh, I think we are..." Said a voice behind Hunt. He turned. There was a boy of about 12-years-old with black hair and unusual purple eyes. "What the hell...?What's a kid doing here...?"Hunt said, confused. The boy smiled. It was a mocking, evil smile. He said, "I'm not just a kid but, if you know what's good for you, you'll stop asking questions.". Hunt pointed the gun at him. "Attacking a girl and now you're pointing a gun at an unarmed minor? Where is your honor?" The boy said mockingly. Hunts eyes narrowed. He said, "Shut up you little brat! Or I'll shoot you!"."Oh? Into threats now are we? I ask again, have you no honor?" That was the last straw for Hunt. He shot at the boy. The bullet hit the boy right between his eyes, there was no way he could take it and live. He fall backwards and lay motionless on the ground. "That's what you get for mouthing of to your betters! I hope the resistance will pay extra for the hell I had to go through to get this done..." As Hunt spoke, something happened to the boy's body. The blood receded and the hole seemed to heal right before his eyes. The boy's eyes opened and he stood up. And, to Hunt's horror, he spoke, "What was _that_ for? And what was that you said about you being my better?". Hunt was speechless he just stared at the boy in open mouthed horror. "W-what are you?!" He managed to gasp out. The boy ignored him and looked at the other figure and said, "Pride, this guy shot me, can I_ please_ kill him now?" The figure called Pride seemed to be lost in thought but registered the boy's request. "Fine, Greed. If that's what makes you happy..." "Thank you!!" He said and turned to Hunt with an evil grin. "You're dead." Hunt did the first thing that came into his mind, he ran. Greed watched him for a moment and said, "Jeez, humans are so stupid, does he really believe he can get away just by running?" He turned to Pride. Pride hadn't heard him; he was bent over Hikari, treating her wounds. Greed snorted and chased after Hunt.

He didnt have to go far, Hunt's fight with Hikari had left him weak and semi-defenseless. Greed found him less then a block away. "Found you." He said to Hunt who was in such a shock that he couldn't speak. Greed pulled a knife from his pocket and swiftly slit Hunt's throat. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question, I'm what's called a Homunculus." He picked up Hunt's cold body and went back to meet Pride. He found him still bent over Hikari, trying to stop the blood coming from her shoulder wound. "Why did you bring the body back?" He asked as Greed approached. "I was thinking Gluttony might want a snack later, it's been a while since he's had human flesh and besides, we have to get rid of the body somehow." Greed replied. "So, what's the deal with the girl? She gonna live? Cause if she doesn't, the master's gonna be pretty pissed." Pride stood up. "Yeah, she'll live but she needs to get to a hospital." He picked up Hikari gently. "There's one nearby, we can just drop her off there and leave before anyone asks any questions." "I guess..." said Greed, "But it would be a pain if she woke up on the way...The master said that she can't find out about us. At least until we're sure she'll be on our side."."If we hurry, we'll get there before she wakes up." Pride said as he started to carry Hikari to the hospital. He moved with such speed that it would seem as though Hikari only weighed a few pounds. Greed followed him thinking, do you want her to live because the master says so, or is there a different reason, Pride?


	3. Chapter 3:Memories

CHAPTER 3

"You're where!!!???"Vince yelled into the phone. He had been really worried when Hikari hadnt come back the night before and was just about to look for her when the phone rang. "Well...I'm kinda in the hospital..." Hikari said. "What do ya mean 'kinda'?!". Vince replied, "How the hell did you get there? And at which hospital!!?"."I'm at the Saint Josephine's Hospital, I'm pretty sure its nearby. But, as to_ why_ I'm here," Hikari's voice dropped to just above a whisper, "I'll tell you and Cay when you guys get here." Hikari hung up. Vince put the phone down. He suddenly felt weak. 'Why she was there?' What did that mean? Did she run into Hunt? Was she okay, was it anything life threatening? His head was swimming. He quickly got Caleb and told him what Hikari had said. Together, they got down to the hospital in what might have been record time. When they entered the hospital, Vince approached the desk clerk and asked, "Excuse me, but could tell me where Hikari Blackstone's room is?" The woman looked up at him. She had been reading a magazine and looked irritated at being disturbed. "I'm sorry but no one except family is allowed in the rooms at this time." She said, not sounding the least bit sorry. She then looked back at her magazine and ignored Vince. Vince walked back to Caleb and said, "The bitch at the desk said that we can't see her unless we're family..." Caleb thought for a moment and said, "Leave it to me and my charm." He walked up to the desk, leaving a very confused Vince at the door. Caleb approached the woman at the desk and said, "Excuse me miss," the woman looked up, again irritated at being disturbed from her reading. "Yes what can I help you with?". She said. It was apparent that she was struggling to keep her voice even. Caleb stole a look at the magazine article she was reading, it was called '_Now that you're forty...'_ He looked at the woman again and thought, forty? She looks like she's almost 50! Slowly an idea formed in his mind. He said charmingly, "Oh, its nothing, I just noticed the magazine article you're reading and wondered 'why is a 20-year-old woman reading an article about 40-year-olds?' So, out of curiosity, I came over to ask." The woman blushed slightly at Caleb's flattery. And said, "What makes you think that I'm not actually forty?". Caleb thought ughh! Does she think I'm flirting with her?! This is so wrong but I guess its the only way we'll get in to see Hikari..."Well, I'm a pretty good judge at people's ages and you seem around 20 or 25." Caleb's charm worked, a dreamy smile came over the woman's face and she said, "Oh...well...what brings you to the hospital?" This is too easy! Caleb thought. "A friend of mine was admitted here earlier and we can't seem to find her room..." The woman thought for a moment and said, "Well...I'm not supposed to let anyone but family in at this time..." Caleb gave her another charming look. She caved in,"Oh, fine! I guess it won't do any harm. What's you're friends name?" Caleb smiled again and said, "Hikari Blackstone." The woman looked something up on her computer. A look crossed her face. "Oh my...she was admitted with a bullet wound in her left shoulder, head trauma, and severe blood loss..." Caleb felt his blood run cold. He gulped and said, "Her room number please?" as calmly as her could. "Oh, yes its...number 213...take the elevator to the second floor, turn right down the first corridor and her room will be the second on the left." Caleb thanked the woman quickly and motioned for Vince to follow him. When they were in the elevator Vince asked, "What wrong? You look paler than usual..." Caleb looked at him and said, "I think that Hikari definitely ran into Hunt last night...She has head trauma, a bullet wound and lost a lot of blood." Vince looked startled but said nothing. When the elevator reached the second floor, they quickly found Hikari's room and let themselves in. Hikari saw them come in and said,"Hey, 'sup?". She was sitting up in the bed and had been watching a baseball game on a very small T.V. She had her left arm in a sling and there was a bandage wrapped around her forehead. "Hikari..." Said Vince, "...you ok?" "Yeah, I'm fine but I have to stay in this stupid hospital for 2 more days. They want to watch for signs of a concussion and if the bullet wound has an infection." She replied, Caleb opened his mouth to speak but Hikari continued, "And before you ask, yes, I did ran into Hunt last night.". Caleb closed his mouth. That had been exactly what he was going to ask. "Well, you couldn't have been hurt very badly, I mean, you managed to get to a hospital." Vince said. Hikari looked down, "The thing is...I can't remember how I got to the hospital..."."What do you mean? Is it memory loss from when you were hit on the head...?" Caleb asked, concerned. Hikari shook her head, "No...I don't think so...the last thing I remember is being hit by a piece of concrete and falling unconscious..." Hikari stopped than she said in a strangled voice, "I...I really thought that I was gonna die...There was no way out...I was scared..." The two boys looked up, horrified that Hikari was on the verge of tears. They were unused to seeing this side of Hikari, she seemed so weak and unlike the Hikari they grew up with. Vince quickly went over to her and said, "It's ok now...The important thing is that you're alive...". Hikari looked up and dried her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "Yeah...you're right, the important thing is that I'm alive. I feel kinda pathetic for crying in front of you guys so...don't expect it to happen agian!"She said suddenly, strongly. She was more like the normal Hikari now. Caleb and Vince smiled. Now_ this_ was the headstrong, sarcastic, little loud mouth that they knew and loved.

"So the resistance _is_ after the girl," Said a woman with long, blond hair. "I wonder if they just want her dead because of her family or if they know the truth...and if so, how did they find out?". "Come on, Sloth! You worry too much. There's no way that the resistance can know about_ that_. They're just human, right? How would they know?" Greed said as he lounged on a dark green sofa. The room they were sitting in was very comfortable and well decorated. The walls were stone and had rich, colorful tapestries hanging on them. Sloth was sitting at a large, oak desk and going over documents of some kind. "You're most likely right," She said to Greed. "However, it's better to keep on the safe side. Maybe someone should keep a 24-hour watch on the kid..." She looked at him. "Who? Me? No way! I'm not playing babysitter for some little girl and her pals! I don't care how important she is!" Sloth laughed and said, "I wasn't even considering _you_. I was thinking more along the lines of Lust or, better yet, Pride."."Well, who ever you get, I suggest you don't allow Envy to know the girl's location, you know how hard she can be to control..." Greed said. "I know that. When it comes to the Blackstones, one never knows how Envy will react...Its safer to keep her in the dark until we need her." Greed stretched, "Well, I had better go tell Pride he's got the role of body guard now. Not sure if that will make him happy or mad, that guy's so hard to read!" He got up to leave the room when Sloth said, "Greed?" He turned. "Watch Pride. I'm not entirely sure he can be trusted. If his memories start to resurface strongly again...he'll be just as dangerous as Envy.". Greed nodded and walked out. Neither Greed nor Sloth noticed a small, white rat creep out of the room when Greed opened the door. The rat had heard all that she needed too. The others were keeping secrets from her, just as she had suspected. The rat turned a corner and entered a dark, windowless room. There was a sudden flash of light and where the rat had been now stood a beautiful girl of about 20 with short, silver hair and purple eyes. So they want to 'keep me in the dark'. She thought, maybe I should remind them what I'm capable of...Envy smiled at the thought.

It had been 2 days since Hikari had been admitted to the hospital and now she was allowed to leave. She no longer needed the sling or bandages as she changed into her clothes. She looked at her jacket. It was torn and frayed at the edges and had many dirt and blood stains. The red Flammel's crest was barely visible beneath the layers of dust and grime. (Note: The flammel's crest is the symbol on Ed's red jacket. I did not make up the name, it's really called that. Even check the FMA anime profile guide, it's in there. Hikari's jacket is reverse colors of Ed's, so it is black with a red flammel's crest. That being said, lets return to the story.) I should really get this fixed. I wonder if there's a decent tailor around here some where. She thought as she put it into her bag. Now she was wearing a black tube top (that completely revealed her automail arm) and baggy, black jeans with chains attached to it. As she walked down the hospital corridors, she drew disapproving looks from nurses and interested ones from the few teenage boys there. Normally, she would have given the nurses the finger and flirted with the boys (provided that they weren't 3 years younger or older than her) but she was in a hurry to leave. When she stepped out of the hospital, she saw Vince driving Cid's old, beat up station wagon and grimaced. As she approached the car she asked, "Why didn't you bring the bikes?" She was referring to the motorcycles that the three of them used to get around. They had to leave them in Central when they left for Liore because the sand would mess up the tires. "My mom didn't want you driving in that condition. She said it would be better if I brought this. And besides, how would I get yours here? Drive two a once?" Hikari sighed and said,"Yeah, you're right." She got in the car and they drove home.

When they reached the house, Elenea immediately rushed out and hugged Hikari. "It's been so long since we last saw you!" she said as she let go. "I hope you've been keeping my son in line." she said as she threw a playful look at Vince. "Mom, I don't need anyone to 'keep me in line'!". Elenea turned on him, "Little out bursts like _that_ are exactly why some has to keep you in line! Now, help Hikari carry her things upstairs, I don't want her doing any lifting with that shoulder wound." Vince rolled his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking. She was. "Vincent Marcus Mollis!!!Dont you _ever_ roll your eyes at your mother again!!!Do you hear me?!"."Y-yes ma'am!". Vince stuttered as he took Hikari's bag and jetted to the house. Hikari stifled a laugh. It always made her laugh when big-though-guy Vince got yelled at by his mother. Elenea clicked her tongue and said, "That boy of mine has such an adittude!"When they came into the house Cid greeted them and said to Hikari,"Caleb told me everything that happened so I think it would be best if you stayed here for the night instead of in some hotel downtown." Hikari tried to protest. She didn't want to impose. But Elenea and Cid insisted. They also insisted that Hikari rest until dinner time. She really tried to refuse that, she had had enough rest while in the hospital! But, she was out voted; Vince and Caleb also thought it would be best if she rested for awhile. So, Hikari spent hours in the spare bed room, bored out of her mind. Jeez, she thought. Ya get one bullet in the shoulder and suddenly everyone is acting like you've got a deadly disease. She read some alchemy books to pass the time but, even the thickest, most complicated book only took up 30 minutes of her time. Finally, she plopped down on the bed and gave into sleep.

Her dream was more like a memory then an actual dream. She was 3-years-old again. Her parents and Tristan had still been alive back then. That had been when she first learned about alchemy. She had seen Tristan (who was 13 at the time) reading an alchemy book. He had noticed Hikari peeking around the doorway. He smiled and said, "Come in, squirt. You don't have to hide like that ya know."Hikari had cautiously entered the room and asked, "What cha doin?" Tristan put down the book and said, "I'm trying to see if I can transmute something simple without screwing it up." Hikari looked puzzled and asked, "Transmute? What's that?" Tristan smiled and said, "I'll show you, watch." Carefully, he drew out a transmutation circle on a piece of paper. Then, he placed a few pieces of metal and a polished black rock on it. When he was satisfied with his work, he placed both hands on the circle. Less then a second after he had done that, there was a small flash of blue light. Hikari had been amazed at the sight. When the light faded, there had been a ring with a dark rock embedded within the metal where the rock and scrap metal had been. Tristan had given Hikari the ring as a gift. She had clapped her hands in delight and exclaimed, "Magic!" "No, Hikari, not _magic_." Tristan had corrected her. "Its _alchemy_. There's no such thing as magic. Alchemy is a science." He then proceeded to explain what alchemy was and the rule of equivalent exchange. When he was done, the three-year-old just stared and him blankly and said, "Magic!" again. Tristan sighed and said, "Why am I even explaining this to a 3-year-old?" Hikari just shrugged her shoulders. "Be patient, Tristan. She's still young, she'll understand it eventually." Said a voice from the doorway. Hikari had immediately ran to the woman there saying, "Mommy!" Lauren Blackstone was wearing her complete military uniform. That day, she was supposed to help escort some refugees through a troubled area at the edge of the country. She would be gone for almost three weeks so she had come by to say good bye to her family. As Hikari ran to her she picked her up and said, "So, your big brother is teaching you about alchemy? I would teach you myself but I have some important work to do." Hikari looked up at her mother, "Mommy knows alchemy?" Lauren laughed and said, "Yes I do, in fact, I'm a state alchemist. That's why I have to go away for a while." Hikari's father appeared from behind them and said, "And your mother is_ very_ good at her job, isn't that right?" His wife smiled at him and they kissed…..for a brief moment until they were interrupted by gagging noises from Tristan and Hikari (Who had been copying her brother). "Ewww…Do you mind not doing that in front of me or my baby sister? She has an impressionable mind ya know!" Tristan said. His father laughed and said, "Well excuse me! We _certainly_ didn't mean to expose Hikari to anything that would scar her for life!" Hikari's mother laughed. She stopped for a moment and looked at Tristan, "You haven't given me a goodbye kiss yet, Are you to old to kiss your mother goodbye?" Tristan groaned slightly and kissed his mother on her cheek.

"That's better." she said. "Well, I should be going now, Renee would be mad if I was late……though she should just accept it by now, that I'll _always_ be late." Her husband turned to her and said, "Be careful, you're going into a danger zone. That place is mostly resistance territory." "Oh relax, Matt! It's just a civilian escort! The resistance is bad, I'll admit, but they wouldn't hurt innocent people. "She said as she put Hikari down. Her husband had snorted and said, "It's not the innocent people I'm worried about." "Will you stop worrying, I'll be fine, I promise!" She than gave each of them a last goodbye kiss and went out the door. That had been the last time Hikari ever saw her mother. Apparently, the resistance didn't care about ordinary people. They had bombed the escort group and at civilians at the same time. There had been no survivors. Hikari remembered watching the report on television. She had been crying, so had her father and Tristan. The funeral was the same, everyone was crying and saying how good her mother had been and she didn't deserve that to happen. People had been constantly going up to her and Tristan saying things like, "It must be so hard for you" or "If you ever want to talk about it…." The Furher had even been there to make a speech, honoring Hikari's mother and the other brave military personal who were apart of the escort group. No matter how much anyone tried to glorify her mother's death, in Hikari's eyes, there was no point, her mother was dead and never going to come home.

About three years later (Hikari was 6, Tristan was 16) Tristan was deeper in his alchemy studies then ever before. He wanted to take the state alchemy exam in two years. He wanted to take up the name that had been hereditary through out the Blackstone family's history, The White Lightning Alchemist. Hikari's family had been involved with the military for generations and they had pride in that. So much so that, when Hikari's mother had announced that she was going to marry a man from the military, her family had insisted that they take her last name instead of her husbands. So, instead of becoming Mrs. Herming (Hikari's father's last name), she had kept her last name and became Mrs. Blackstone (her mother's last name). It was a bit of a tradition in the family that at least one person, male or female, from each generation become a state alchemist and was given the name 'White Lightning'. Hikari's grandfather had been that before her mother and it looked like Tristan would be the next.

For almost the first time since her mother's death, Hikari was truly happy with life and felt at peace with everything. However, that changed one night when her father hadn't come home one night. Hikari had been scared that something had happened. In fact, she _knew_ that something bad had happened. Tristan tried to comfort her by telling her stories (Mostly ones about a certain short, blonde state alchemist that we all know and love! f.y.i: Hikari loved hearing stories about Ed and Al when she was little the legendary Elric brothers were still pretty famous, even almost 100 years later! ) Hikari had eventually fallen asleep, confident that everything was going to be ok, just like her brother said it would be.

In the morning Hikari found out everything wasn't ok. Things were far from ok. Some men in military uniform had come by and said that her father was dead. That he had shot himself. The moment Tristan heard that, he took Hikari and rushed to Central Headquarters. The moment they got there, they were stopped by two people in military uniforms who told them that the Furher wanted to speak to Tristan, immediately. Once inside the Furher's office, she told them the truth. That their father had been found in his office, dead. It looked like he had shot himself, she had said. Tristan had rejected that reasoning at once. His father would never commit suicide, he had said. Renee had said she believed the same thing but, if he hadn't shot himself, it meant that someone had murdered him and wanted to make it looked like suicide. The rest of the conversation Hikari couldn't remember, she had been tired and scared. She couldn't think straight, the only part of that day she could remember clearly, was when Tristan had been holding her and crying at the same time. He had been stroking her hair and saying, "Its going to be ok…..I'll take care of both of us from now on…." Hikari had fallen asleep listening to those words.

Her father's funeral had been very similar to her mother's. The Furher had given a speech and people were constantly coming to them with apologies and offers of places to stay. Most of the people offering them a home weren't even friends or anyone they knew. They were people who thought, if they took in Tristan and Hikari, they would get control of the Blackstone fortune too. Tristan rejected almost all of the offers. The people who wanted the money became angry. Saying that he was stupid and there was no way a 16-year-old without a job could support both him _and_ a 6-year-old girl with out money that he wasn't even allowed to touch until he was 18. Tristan had responded to them by saying, "I'd rather be living on the streets than with someone who doesn't give a damn about me or my sister". The people would then walk away stunned and speechless at what he had said. However, there was one offer that Tristan _did_ accept. And that offer came from Cid. He had been friends with Tristan's parents although they had never met Tristan or Hikari. He promised to give both Tristan and Hikari a home and they would never ask for anything in return. "Besides", Cid had said to Tristan. "We have the room, and if you don't stay with us, would you _really_ want your sister to sleep on the streets for almost 2 years until you get control of your family's money? You'll get it eventually, you're the only living heir besides Hikari, but wouldn't you want a safe place to stay until them?" Tristan had accepted the offer quickly. Hikari had been happy that she had a place to stay and got two friends, Vince and Caleb.

It was during her friendship with Vince and Caleb when Hikari attempted alchemy for the first time.

"Kari, are you sure you know how to do this?" 8-year-old Vince had asked her.

"Of course I do! Why would I say I can if I couldn't?" She had answered him smugly. There was a transmutation circle drawn on the floor and pieces of scrap metal and plastic sat in the center of it. When Hikari had told Vince and Caleb about the alchemy she had learned from Tristan, they had immediately insisted that she show them. There was one problem; Hikari had never tried to transmute anything before. She had read books and had listened to Tristan's complicated explanations, so she was confident that she would do well.

"Well, if you can do it, show us." Caleb had challenged.

"It's done." Hikari said when she had finished the preparations. The two boys crowded around her to have a better look at what was going to happen. Hikari placed her hands on the circle. The moment her finger tips had (barely) touched the circle, there was a flash of blue light and, where the metal and plastic had been, a new, shiny toy truck was sitting in the center of the circle.

"That's amazing!" Caleb had exclaimed as he grabbed the toy from the circle. Vince had been in open mouthed shock. He hadn't really expected that Hikari could actually do it. "I'll show this to my dad, it's really cool!" Caleb had said as he inspected the toy. He ran down the hall to show his father, with Hikari and Vince on his heels.

Cid had looked at the truck for a while before smiling and saying, "Did you really make this, Hikari? And on your first try?" Hikari had nodded proudly. Cid laughed and said, "You've definitely inherited the Blackstone talent for alchemy! I'm betting that Tristan would want to see this!" "See what?" Tristan said as he entered the room. Cid handed him the truck and said, "Hikari just transmuted that for the boys." Tristan's eyes widened slightly "Hikari made this?" He looked at her and she said proudly, "Yup!" He took the toy and studied it. He brook into a smile and said, "This is possibly the best first attempt I've ever seen! And that includes anything that I ever did." He walked over to Hikari and handed her the car as he patted her on the head. He said, "Well squirt, it looks like you're going to be a better alchemist than me!" Hikari glowed with pride at the remark. Elenea came in from the kitchen and said, "Dinners ready!" Everyone flocked to the kitchen.

When they were all in there Cid said, "Oh yeah, Tristan, why did you come home so early? I thought your hours went until 6." He was referring to the store where Tristan was currently working. "About that……" He said. Everyone turned to look at him. "I didn't go to work today. Instead, I…….took the alchemy exam at Central Headquarters." He waited patiently to see how his news would be received.

"It's about time!" Elenea said. All heads turned to her. "You've wanted to become a state alchemist for some time now and it's good that you're finally doing something to get there." Tristan smiled gratefully.

Cid got up and said, "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." He walked out of the room. "Don't mind him," Elenea said. "He's just worried about you. He'll come around eventually." Tristan said nothing. Slowly, the 17-year-old got up and walked up the stairs to his room. Hikari got up and quickly followed her brother; she didn't like to be apart from him for too long.

She found him in his room. He seemed gloomy and sulky. Hikari came over to him and sat beside him on the bed. "Why are you sad? Don't you want to be a state alchemist?" she said. Tristan put an arm around her and said, "I'm not sad, just unsure. I'm unsure if this is really the right thing to do. If I should join the state alchemists or just wait a few months for my 18th birthday when I'll inherit the house and all of the money." Hikari snuggled closer to him and said, "Do you want to be a state alchemist, like mommy was?" Tristan's eyes clouded slightly at the mention of his mother but he wiped his them on the back of his sleeve and said, "Yeah…..at least I thought I did……but now I'm not so sure." "Whatever you do, it will be the right thing." Hikari said. Tristan laughed and said, "What makes you think that?"

"Because," Hikari said, "You've been making all of the right decisions so far."

Tristan stroked her hair and said, "What if it was all luck? What if I make the wrong decision and you end up getting hurt by it?"

Hikari thought for a minute and said, "It will be right. I know it." Tristan laughed again and said, "I wish that I could be as confident as you are about this." Hikari laughed and said, "It's easy, you just have to try it!"

He smiled and said, "Maybe I will."

A few years later, Hikari was 9 and Tristan was 19. Tristan was now a certified state alchemist and Hikari was proud of her big brother. The moment Tristan had turned 18; he had collected his rightful inheritance and moved him and Hikari to their family's old home. Their 'home' had been a huge mansion with hundreds of acres of ground surrounding it. They had insisted that Cid and Elenea take some kind of payment as thanks for taking care of them but, they had refused. Although she wasn't living in the same house as them anymore, Hikari still hung out with Vince and Caleb a lot. They walked home from school together, did homework together and played together. Soon, it became an uncommon sight in the neighborhood to see Hikari _without_ Vince or Caleb with her.

Everything in Hikari's life was perfect as far as she was concerned. She loved living with her brother and seeing her friends every day. She didn't remember much about her father and hardly anything about her mother but Tristan would often share his memories of them with her. The only part of her life that made her unhappy was the fact that Tristan had to go away a lot. As a state alchemist, he had to travel far away on military business. When he left, he would leave Hikari with Cid and Elenea until he returned. Hikari liked living with Vince and Caleb but she never liked to be apart from her brother for very long.

One day, Hikari was coming home from school. She was in a hurry because Tristan was supposed to be back that day. As she approached her home, she instantly knew that something was wrong. The front door had been slightly open, something that her brother never would have allowed, and there had been broken glass all over the floor of the hall. Her heart racing, Hikari ran through the house searching for her brother. She found him when she entered his study. There was blood everywhere and her brother had been face down with a red stain growing steadily larger through his shirt. Hikari had screamed. She ran next to her brother and felt his hand. He had no pulse and his skin was icy cold. He had been dead for hours. Hikari sat there and cried. She was determined not to look at his face; she couldn't bear to see what his eyes looked like. She held his hand and cried harder than she ever had before. When her parents had died, Tristan had been there to comfort her and say every thing was going to be ok. Now he couldn't. Now he was dead and could never talk to her again.

Hikari's scream must have been louder than she thought. In a matter of minutes, a neighbor of hers had come running, breathlessly into the room.

"I heard someone scream and-Oh my god! Tristan! Hikari what happened?" He said as he saw Tristan's body on the floor. Hikari cried harder and tried to speak but the man said, "It's ok, you don't have to say anything now, just go downstairs and call the police. Tell them what's going on." Hikari obediently rushed downstairs and called the police. Hysterically, she tried to explain what had happened.

When the police got there, they didn't ask Hikari any questions they just took pictures of Tristan's body, took samples of the blood and dusted for finger prints. The only thing they had asked Hikari was if there was anyone she could stay with.

Later that night, Hikari was sitting with Vince and Caleb. She was crying into Caleb's shoulder while Vince held her hand. They both tried to reassure her but nothing they said had any affect. It was like she was in her own world.

Tristan's funeral had been very similar to her parent's but with one big difference. There was a sinister gloom over everyone.

"Did you hear what happened?"

"I heard he was shot in the back."

"He was such a nice boy, its horrible what happened….."

"His poor sister, losing her parents and now her brother? That's awful."

"I wonder who will get custody over the girl. Whoever does will have control over the family fortune, they'll be set for life!"

"Did you know they haven't caught the killer yet?"

"The killer is still at large?!"

"I heard the Investigations branch in the military is taking special priority in this case."

"I heard the Furher's ordered an all out investigation on this."

"I hope they catch the one who did it soon, I won't be able to sleep until then…."

"Rumor has it that it's resistance work…."

Those were the snatches of conversation Hikari kept hearing. She didn't know if the killer would be caught and she didn't care, it wouldn't bring her brother back to life. Back to life……. Is it possible? She thought. The sadness in Hikari's eyes was soon replaced with a look of calculation.

Using the money that she had saved up for the past 5 years, Hikari found a teacher and learned alchemy from a master. What Tristan had taught her had been nothing compared to what she learned there. Hikari's teacher had been very impressed with her talent and skill with alchemy. After only half a year, Hikari had finished her studies with her teacher. She had mastered alchemy. Hikari's teacher only set three rules for her.

1) Never use alchemy to kill someone out of anger or revenge. Only in self defense.

2) Never become a state alchemist.

3) (The most important rule) NEVER EVER attempt a human transmutation.

As Hikari left her teacher's home she thought, sorry teacher but I'm going to have to break one of your rules.

The most that Hikari remembered was the certainty that she could do it. That she could succeed where so many others had failed. That she was better than anyone else who had attempted to resurrect a human before. She remembered pouring the ingredients into the center of the circle she had drawn on the floor of the basement. It was late at night. Everyone was sleeping; there would be no one to distract her. She heard the thunder boom from the raging storm outside. She shivered slightly. It's now, or never, she thought. Carefully, she lifted a bag from the floor and poured its contents in the center of the circle. It had contained a piece of bloodstained cloth that had come from the clothes her brother had been wearing when he was killed. Hikari also took out a small knife and used it to prick her finger. She and Tristan had been the same blood type so using some of her blood should help slightly. She held her finger over the pile of ingredients and a single, red drop of blood fell onto the pile. Hikari smiled. She dropped to one knee and placed her hands on the circle.

Instantly there was a bright flash of gold light. The light grew until it became so large that the entire room was bathed in its glow. It's working! Hikari thought happily. That was when everything went wrong. The light became dark and the wind it created was much fiercer. No, Hikari thought, this wasn't supposed to happen! She felt something grab her and pull her toward the source of the light. She fought it, desperately trying to release herself from its grip. She stopped. Whatever had been pulling her had released her. She opened her eyes and looked up.

She screamed. Before her were two large, ancient looking doors. Hikari had read about it but had never actually seen an illustration. However she knew without a doubt that this was the Gate. The source of all alchemy. The doors opened. The moment it did, millions of pictures came flooding into her mind. They were age old formulas and theories bout alchemy. There was so many of them that it hurt her head to take in that much information at once.

All of a sudden, the information stopped. That was amazing! Hikari thought, over her initial terror of the Gate. I saw things that I never even knew about alchemy before! Then, something came out of the Gate. Millions of arms came out and seized Hikari. She tried to pull out of their grasp but it was impossible. She gave up fighting it and allowed herself to be dragged into the Gate, knowing she would never come out again.

There was a flash of light and the arms receded back into the Gate. Hikari looked around to see where the light was coming from and saw that it was coming from_ her_! Every part of her body was glowing except for her right arm. Her arm…….Hikari screamed. Her right arm was no longer there. She held the place where it had been with her other arm to try to stop the bleeding. Hikari looked at her surroundings. Somehow, she had gotten back to the basement. Wait a minute, she thought. If I was able to bring Tristan back, all of this suffering will be worth it. She struggled to look up and noticed her body was no longer glowing. She strained her eyes to see what was in the center of the transmutation circle. When she saw she let out another scream. The thing in the center of the circle was deformed and completely inhuman.

Hikari woke up in a cold sweat. She was breathing heavily and upright in bed. She looked out her window, it was pitch black outside. I guess I was in such a deep sleep that no one woke me up for dinner, she thought as she got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and noticed that her face was already wet with tears. I haven't cried about Tristan's death in years, she thought. Why should I start now? She studied her reflection in the mirror and remembered what happened after her human transmutation failed.

Vince and Caleb had heard her screams and raced downstairs to find Hikari crying on the floor clutching the place where her arm had been. They helped her get upstairs and woke up Cid. He had helped to stop the bleeding and gave Hikari a lecture about how stupid she had been and that the dead couldn't be brought back to life. After that, Hikari remembered falling in and out of consciousness for the rest of the night and most of the following day.

Hikari shook her head. That had been the past. There was no use dwelling over what had already come to pass. She studied the ring that Tristan had given her. The very first thing he had created with alchemy. It had since grown too small for her to wear on her finger but she still wore it on a chain around her neck. She clutched it close to her heart and started back to her room. When she entered her room, she noticed something white on her windowsill. She opened the window and picked it up. She held it close to her face to study it. It was a white feather. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something fly by the glass sliding door that lead to the terrace outside her room. She quickly opened to and stepped out. There was nothing there. Something whit drifted in front of her eyes. She held out her hands to catch it. It was another white feather. She looked at the two feathers in her hand. They looked fairly ordinary. However, there was something that seemed very familiar about them……She re-entered her room and closed the door behind her. She placed the feathers in a small box on her dresser. She couldn't throw them away. As Hikari climbed back into bed she thought, I hope I don't have anymore flash-backy type dreams. She soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Human Emotions

CHAPTER 4: Human Emotions

Hikari woke up in a haze. She had barely remembered getting back to sleep after her dream. Not a dream, a nightmare, she told herself. She got up groggily. Hikari had never been a morning person. As she was slowly working her way on to the floor, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." She said sleepily. Vince walked through the door.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully. Hikari just groaned and gave him an evil look.

He sighed and said, "You're just a regular Miss Sunshine, aren't you?"

Hikari said, "Its part of my charm." She got up out of bed and walked over to Vince. "Wasn't there something you wanted? You know it's not wise to talk to me in the morning…" She said evilly.

"Just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready." He said. He walked over to her dresser and picked up the white feathers. "Where did ya get the feathers?"

"I found them outside last night." Hikari said.

"Last night? When I came in to wake you up for dinner you were dead asleep." He said then smiled. "Are you telling me that the sound of a feather falling wakes you up when me screaming won't?"

"No, I was already awake…." Hikari said, "I…..I had a bit of a nightmare…."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Vince said concerned. "Because, if you do, I'm here for you."

Hikari smiled sadly and said, "I don't think I'm ready to talk about but, when I am, you'll be the first person I talk to.

Vince just smiled back and left the room.

Dammit! He thought as he left the room, 'I'm here for you' is that the best I can come up with? Jeez, that was pathetic! It's a wonder she didn't laugh in my face! He walked down the stairs angrily.

"Something wrong?" A voice said behind him. Vince jumped two feet. He spun around and saw Caleb.

"Jeez! Are ya trying to give me a heart attack?" He said to his step brother.

Caleb ignored the comment and said, "Something go wrong with Hikari?"

"No! What makes you say that!?" Vince said defensively.

"Well, for starters, you came walking down the stairs like you were going to kill yourself and second, you got all defensive when I asked if anything was wrong." Caleb answered grinning.

Vince rolled his eyes and said, "Have I mentioned lately that I hate you?"

Caleb laughed and said, "Well, not _recently_." He looked at Vince seriously and said, "Seriously, what happened?"

"I acted like an idiot in front of Hikari."

"And that's different from normal how?"

"Shut up."

"Since when do you care whether you look like an idiot in front of Hikari?" Caleb said questioningly. Vince thought for a moment before answering.

"I honestly don't know." He said, "I don't know when I went from thinking of her as a friend too thinking of her as……well….potentially _more _than a friend."

"Ah, my dear romantically challenged brother, how naïve you are to the world of women and romance." Caleb said teasingly.

"Don't talk to me like you're older!" Vince said angrily.

"I'm only stating a fact, brother dear." Caleb continued. Suddenly, more seriously he said, "And let me offer you a bit of relationship related advice; tell Hikari how you feel. She's an amazing girl, if you don't tell her, mark my words, someone else will!" He then turned and walked down the hallway leaving Vince speechless in the hallway.

"Something wrong?" Vince jumped and turned. Hikari was on the stairway behind him.

"Are you and Caleb both trying to give me a heart attack today?" He said.

"Dammit, who let the secret out?" Hikari said sarcastically. Vince laughed.

"Anyway," Hikari said, "Why were you just standing in front of the stairway looking like you've just swallowed some thing really unpleasant?"

"Umm…No reason." Vince said. He was beyond thankful that she hadn't heard the conversation between him and Caleb.

"We should get some breakfast before Caleb and Cid eat everything." Vince said, trying to change the subject.

Hikari smiled and said, "Yeah, we should." She walked down the hallway to the kitchen with Vince closely behind her.

"How goes bodyguard duty?" Greed said to Pride. They were both sitting on a roof not far from the home Hikari was staying in.

"It's been…..nice." Pride answered. "The night was pretty uneventful. I found out the she talks in her sleep."

Greed almost choked on the hotdog he had been eating. "You went in her room?! Are you insane?! What if someone saw you? Everything would be over!"

Pride said, "No you idiot. I didn't go into her room, I was outside the window. I didn't hear her talking, I just saw her lips moving, and that's all."

Greed seemed to calm down a bit after that but he said, "You're certain no one saw you?"

Pride laughed and said, "I'm certain, ok?" He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, as though he had just remembered something.

"Why are you doing that?" Greed asked, "You look like you just remembered something that you_ really_ don't want to tell me."

"It's probably nothing." Pride answered. He looked at the hotdog Greed was eating. "Why are you eating? You don't need to; it's a waste of time."

"Just because I don't need to eat doesn't mean that I can't." Greed said defensively. "Besides, I liked hotdogs a lot……when I was human. Plus, it's not a waste of time, it's actually very enjoyable." He thought for a moment then said, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot the reason I came here."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Pride asked.

Greed nodded slowly. "We ummm……kinda lost track of Envy…"

"You what!!!!!?" Pride yelled angrily. "How could you lose track of her?! Do you know what could happen if she finds out where Hikari is?!"

"Calm down Pride." Greed said, "Gluttony, Lust and Wrath are out looking for her. Sloth is betting that Gluttony will find her first but my money's on Wrath. Care to place a wager?"

"One: I have no money. Two: This isn't something you should place a bet on. And three: Wrath will definitely find Envy first." Pride replied. "And if that's all you wanted to say, would you mind leaving? I can't afford to get distracted when Envy could be close by."

Greed snorted and said, "Fine! Just trying to give you some companionship!" He turned to leave.

"Please Greed, spare me the sad story. If you had really wanted to keep me company, you would have come yourself instead of sending one of your doubles." Pride said.

Greed stopped short and smirked, "How did you know this wasn't the real me?"

"I've noticed that each of your doubles have a slightly different way of speaking then you do." Pride answered.

The Greed double smiled and said, "Well then, see ya!" The Greed copy vanished in a puff of smoke.

Pride rolled his eyes and said, "Must you always be such a show-off?"

Far away, the real Greed said, "Yup! It's part of my charm!

It was about mid afternoon when Hikari's cell phone rang. "Hello?" She said when she answered.

"Hi Hikari. This is Devon." It took Hikari a moment to remember who Devon was.

"Oh, hi! Wow, you really called back. I didn't think you would…."

"Well I did and I was wondering if you wanted to meet at _Rika's_ sometime day or tomorrow." He said.

Hikari thought for a minute than said, "Today's good, what time?"

"Anytime that's good for you." He replied

"How about now?" Hikari said.

"Now?" Devon replied

"Yeah, I have nothing to do now. And I might be leaving Central tomorrow…." She said.

"Now's fine! I'll meet you there in…..how about an hour?" He said.

"Ok, great. Bye."

"Bye."

Hikari hung up her phone.

"Who was that?" Vince asked her when she put the phone down.

"If you must know, that was my date for today." She answered.

"What!?" Said Vince at the same time Caleb said, "You have a date?!"

"Yes, I do. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready." She said as she walked up the stairs to her room. Caleb and Vince were sitting at the table dumbfounded.

"I told you." Caleb said to Vince.

"Told me what?" Vince replied.

"That you should have asked Hikari out by now." Caleb answered, "Now it's too late, she already has a boyfriend."

"Hey! She said she was going on a date with the guy, not be his girlfriend!" Vince said, "What could be so great about this guy anyway?"

"Oh? Do I detect some jealousy?" Caleb said.

"N-no Way!" Vince answered, his face going as red as his eyes. "There is no way I'm jealous of a guy I haven't even met!"

Caleb smirked and said, "Whatever you say brother, whatever you say."

About 40 minutes later, Hikari was ready to go. She wore a pair of blue jeans with a black t-shirt and a short red jacket. "Well, I'll be going now…" Hikari said as she went out the door. She walked over to the garage and opened the large, metal door. She walked inside and pulled a large piece of tarp off of a lumpy shape in the back of the garage. "Hello, long time no see." She said when she saw what was under the tarp. There was a black motorcycle. It was top of the line (Much more advance then anything that would come out in years) and built for speed. Hikari had them specially made as a present for her and Vince and Caleb. The boys both had ones similar to this one, but Hikari knew this one was hers because of the silver Flammel's crest on the side.

She carefully pulled it out of the garage and tested it to see if it still worked. She put the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life instantly (Well, not _roar_ really. The engine is designed to be silent but you get the idea…..). Hikari put a helmet on and drove out of the driveway and down the street.

The minute they were sure she was gone, Vince and Caleb stood in the doorway. "We following her?" Caleb asked.

"Hell yeah." Vince answered as he went to the garage to get his ride.

"Hey Hikari!" Hikari turned to see Devon on the other side of the street. He ran up to her and said, "How's it going?"

She smiled and said, "Pretty well, and you?"

Devon grimaced and said, "Not so well."

"Oh? Why not?"

"My aunt is in town and she won't let me out of her sight!"

Hikari laughed and said, "Why is she doing that?"

Devon sighed and said, "She keeps trying to set me up with daughters of friends of hers. She's convinced that I need a girlfriend so, the only way I could get out of there was to tell her that I had a date." He paused and looked at her. "You don't mind, do you?"

Hikari laughed again and said, "Not at all! In fact, you can tell me the rest of the story over a cup of coffee." They walked inside _Rika's_ and found a table near the window.

"I'll get the coffee, what kind do you like?" Devon said to her as she sat down.

"Anything with chocolate in it." Hikari replied

"Want something to eat too?" He asked.

"Yes, anything with chocolate." Hikari said smiling.

"Ok, I'll be right back." He went to go order.

Hikari admired the view from the window. She could see most of the beautiful gardens that occupied the front lawns of the homes of upper Central. She saw crowds of people moving through the streets. One of those people was a young woman of about 20-years-old. She had bright silver hair that went down to her shoulders. For some reason, Hikari couldn't stop staring at her. As if aware of her gaze, the woman stopped and stared right in Hikari's direction. Hikari saw that the woman had strange purple eyes. They made eye contact for a while. Hikari, still unable to look away, saw the woman's lips form a sinister smile. That sent shivers down Hikari's spine.

"I have the food and coffee." Devon said when he approached the table. Hikari immediately looked in his direction. When she looked back out the window, an old man was in the place the purple eyed woman had been in.

"Are you ok?" Devon asked. "You looked pretty freaked."

"No….it's nothing. Thanks for the coffee." Hikari said. "So…why don't you tell me more about this crazy aunt of yours?"

Devon laughed and said, "Well, she's not totally crazy. She doesn't have a son; she has 5 daughters but no son. So she tries to treat me like her son by setting me up on dozens of blind dates. It was cool for a while. I met so very……interesting girls."

"Interesting how?" Hikari inquired.

"Interesting as in completely crazy." He replied. "One of the girls she set me up with was an artist who liked to draw dead corpses!"

"Even _I_ think that's strange and _I'm_ the queen of all things strange and weird!"

"Oh come on, you're not that strange. I've been set up with hundreds girls who are weirder then you."

"Really? Name 10."

"I will. Let's see…there was Tina the circus performer…"

"Circus performer? How did your aunt know her?"

"I'm not sure. I think it had something to do with rampaging elephants and a sequined dress."

"Ok, so Tina and the creepy artist girl make 2, you still have 8 more to go."

"Hey! Don't rush me; I have trouble remembering bad dates."

"What are they talking about?" Vince asked Caleb from their hiding place in some bushes in front of a building.

"I think they're talking about rampaging elephants and drawing corpses….." Caleb answered looking through his binoculars at Hikari and Devon.

"What? That doesn't make any sense!" Vince answered.

"My lip readings a little rusty, I may have misunderstood."

"Then give me the binoculars!"

"No way! These cost a fortune. Go buy your own! Besides, you can't even read lips!"

"I can do a better job then you are! Elephants and Corpses? You obviously can't read lips either!"

Vince reached out to try to grab the binoculars from Caleb's neck.

"Hey! Don't touch those!" Caleb said, trying to get the binoculars back.

"Oh, put a sock in it!" Vince said as he looked through the binoculars at Hikari and Devon.

"Ow! Vince, those are still attached to my neck! You're….strangling….me!" Caleb said as he started coughing.

"Quit whining! I'm trying to see what's going on over there!" Vince raised the binoculars to his eyes again. Only now, he was staring into the eyes of an angry street cop.

"Do you boys mind telling me what you're up to?" The cop said angrily.

"Ummm……ok…." Caleb said. He turned to Vince. "Uhh….What _were_ we doing?"

"Oh…we were…." Vince thought quickly. "We were bird watching!"

"Bird watching?" The cop said suspiciously. "In the bushes?"

"We wanted to observe the birds in their natural habitat without disturbing the delicate ecosystem." Caleb explained.

The cop thought for a moment and said, "Fine, I have no reason to apprehend either of you. But I will say one thing, I had better never see either of you two skulking around here again or you'll get a one way ticket to Central H.Q!" He walked away.

When the cop was out of range Caleb turned to Vince and said, "_Bird watching?!_"

"Hey, it was the best thing I could come up with on the spot like that!" Vince said defensively.

"But 'bird watching'? I'm surprised that cop bought such a lame excuse like that. He obviously doesn't get out much." Caleb answered. "We had better just leave, we can't hide in the bushes anymore and Hikari will notice if we stand on the sidewalk with binoculars."

"We can't leave!" Vince said indignantly. "There is no way I'm leaving Hikari alone with some guy I don't know!"

Caleb sighed and said, "You'd hate to leave Hikari alone with_ any_ guy, even if it _was_ someone you knew!"

"Shut up." Vince replied. He started to walk to where their motorcycles were parked.

"I thought you weren't going to leave." Caleb said with a slight smile.

"Shut up." Vince said as he put his helmet on and drove away.

"Jeez, _someone_ has some jealousy issues." Caleb said as he put on his helmet and followed Vince.

The old man turned and walked down the street, resisting the urge to look into the coffee shop window again. She had found the girl, good. Soon her revenge would be complete. The man turned down an empty ally way. When the man reached the end of the ally, there was a flash of light and in the man's place was the woman with silver hair.

"Envy." A voice said from the shadows.

Envy turned. Behind her was a girl of about 15 with long red hair.

"Wrath," Envy spat. "What do _you_ want?"

"Nothing," Wrath replied. "I just thought you should know that the others are all out looking for you. You're departure caused quite the stir."

"Oh? What are they so afraid I'll do?" Envy said.

"You're going to kill that girl, aren't you?" Wrath replied. "If you do, the others will kill you."

"I don't care." Envy said, "As long as my revenge will be complete, I don't really care if I die. I've lived for almost 1000 years now, that's long, even for a homunculus."

Wrath lost her patients, "Can't you kill her_ after_ we're done with her?! After that, she'll be near death anyway!"

Envy looked at her, "Do you really think the master will just let her walk away? The master will keep that girl as a prisoner for her entire life, possibly longer. Trust me; what I plan to do is_ much _more merciful."

Wrath sighed, "There is just no pleasing you is there? I thought if I found you first, I could try to reason with you. I guess now I'll have to alert Sloth to your location. After all, she's the only one with any _real_ power over you."

Envy's expression darkened, "You little bitch! Do that and I'll kill you right now!"

Wrath smiled, "You can't, you know as well as I do that only the master is able to kill us."

Envy just became angrier, "I can at least cause you some pain!" She rushed at Wrath as her left arm transformed into a sword.

"That's enough." Said a voice.

Both Envy and Wrath turned. There was a woman with blonde hair standing in the entrance to the ally.

"Sloth, I didn't expect you to get her so quickly." Wrath said.

"I was already in the area, checking on how Pride was doing." Sloth answered. She turned to Envy. "Now really Envy, expected something better from you."

Envy said nothing she searched for an escape route and found one. Quickly, she transformed into a bird and flew away from Wrath and Sloth.

The two homunculi just watched as Envy flew away in bird form.

"Are we going after her?" Wrath asked

"No need, we know where she's going." Sloth said, "I should go warn Pride about Envy. Are you coming?"

"No," Wrath said, "I think I'll just wander around for a while, it's been a long time since I've been out in the fresh air."

"Fine, just don't take too long," Sloth replied, "You know that the master doesn't like you being alone for too lone. You know what will happen if you stay around humans for too long."

Wrath nodded, "I'll be careful."

She left the ally and walked down the street and out of sight. Sloth turned in the other direction and walked away thinking, what exactly is Envy's game? Does she really not care about the power we could get from using that kid? I hope the master will be able to keep her in line until we have no further use for her.


	5. Chapter 5:The Dream and The Fight

CHAPTER 5: The Dream and The Fight

"Have a nice time?" Caleb said as Hikari came in through the kitchen doorway.

"Yup! It was great." Hikari said happily. She noticed that Vince was leaning on the side of the table and was wearing a sulky expression.

"I'm going to bed." Vince said as he stood up.

"Now? But it's only 8…" Hikari said.

"We're leaving Central tomorrow, right? So I thought I would get to sleep now and wake up early tomorrow to pack." Vince replied as he walked down the hall.

"What's with him? He _never_ goes to bed early, no matter what the occasion is." Hikari asked Caleb.

"I don't know…" Caleb lied. Then, to change the subject, he said, "So, what did you and your boyfriend do? You guys were out for a while."

"One: He is not my boyfriend." Hikari said, "Two: His name is Devon. And we had a great time. We had coffee at _Rika's_ than we saw a movie and walked around for a little."

"That's….nice." Caleb said. Then he remembered something, "Oh yeah! The colonel called here. Apparently, you haven't been answering your cell phone when he calls."

"No, I have his calls blocked." Hikari said, "What did he want?"

"Only to tell you that the date of the alchemy assessments has been moved to the day after tomorrow." He replied.

"WHAT!!??" Hikari yelled, "WHY?!"

"Something to do with the Furher getting here early and she didn't want to waste any time." Caleb said in a bored tone.

"What!!? She just lives to make me suffer…" Hikari said. "We can't leave Central tomorrow and I need to stay up all day tonight and tomorrow night studying for the written portion, re-viewing my research for the research review portion, and training for the battle assessment portion!!!"

(Please Note: The alchemy assessment consists of three parts: The research review portion, the written portion, and the battle assessment portion. In the research review portion, the alchemist's research is looked upon and evaluated for its effort and how complete it is. In the written portion, alchemists take a written test much like the one that is taken during the alchemy exam however; the test is much easier than the one taken for the alchemy exam. The battle assessment is the last part of the assessment. It is a fight between two state alchemists combining alchemy with their different fighting styles. The opponents are randomly selected and even the Furher must take part in the fights. Anything goes and the only rule is to not attempt to kill your opponent. Alchemists who don't have any fighting ability which is very few take another written test instead of fighting. An alchemist must pass at least 2 out of these 3 potions to keep their state alchemist certification.)

"Relax, Kari." Caleb said, "You always scare top marks on the test and you have some of the best battle skills I've ever seen. The only part you ever have trouble with is the research evaluation."

Hikari seemed to be a little more relaxed after that. A little, not much.

"Why didn't the colonel tell me about this when I met with him days ago?!" She said

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, he sounded pretty freaked too." Caleb said. "My guess is that he just found out also."

Hikari sighed and said, "I guess it's nice to not be the only one in this boat." She turned and went up the stairs to her room.

Once she got in her room, Hikari got out her alchemy books and research notes and started to read through them.

When she was done, it was almost 12 o' clock. Hikari yawned and thought, I should get to bed. I still have a lot to get through tomorrow. She climbed into bed and turned out the lights.

That night, she had a very strange dream. She had been floating in what seemed like an endless dark space. It was so dark she couldn't see. Suddenly, a bright, gold light filled the area. Hikari looked around to see where it was coming from when she realized it was coming from herself. Just like that time when I was at the gate…..She thought hazily. A voice started calling her name.

"Hikari…..Hikari…." she tried to get to the source of the voice but it just seemed to get farther away. She knew she had heard the voice somewhere before, but she couldn't place where. It had an almost musical like quality and sounded young, yet ancient. All of a sudden, it wasn't just one voice calling her. It seemed as though millions of voices were all calling her name, trying to reach out to her. There were so many coming from so many directions she didn't know where to go.

Just when it felt like the voices would be so loud that they would rip her apart, they stopped. She looked around and was suddenly in a large, decorated room. Tapestries hung on the walls and the columns were edged with gold. The room seemed to be in some kind of castle. In the center of the room was a huge, black crystal sitting on a thick, golden pedestal. It seemed to be roughly about 10 feet tall and about 5 feet wide.

Something about the crystal was familiar to Hikari, like she had seen it somewhere before. It seemed to call to her, beckoning her to come closer. She was so transfixed on the crystal, that she went closer and closer to it. She reached out to touch it. The moment her hand had brushed the side of the crystal, memories came flooding into Hikari's mind. Only, they weren't_ her_ memories. She saw people clustered together in small camps within a large fortress. She saw people in long, black robes moving through the crowds and talking to the people. Somehow, she knew that they were promising the people better lives if they followed them…..she also knew they were lying. They made false promises for the people's cooperation.

The flow of memories suddenly stopped.

No! Hikari thought silently, I want to see more! Something about this seems so familiar….Like I've done it before…..I want to know what it is!

The room seemed to melt around her, the colors of the tapestries and the walls blended together until Hikari couldn't tell which was which. Then, the room changed completely. When Hikari looked up again, she realized with horror where she was. Before her was the Gate, exactly as she had remembered it. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The Gate opened and arms reached out to pull her inside.

Hikari woke up breathing heavily. She sat up and looked around her room. It was just another dream, she thought with relief. She lied back down. But it had seemed so real. More real than any dream she had before……Maybe I shouldn't eat take out before bed anymore. She thought as she remembered the food she had eaten as a midnight snack. Well, at least it was interesting…..except for the part about the Gate…..that was scary. She fell asleep soon after that.

For Hikari, the next day was all about researching, studying, and training. She rotated between the three and only stopped a few times to eat. She read her research notes over and over, whipped through multiple alchemy books, and practiced combining martial arts moves with alchemy

Since Hikari was busy, Vince and Caleb decided to spend the day just wandering around the city. They had planned to stay together and go bowling something but soon, Caleb had other plans……

"Where are you going again?" Vince asked Caleb. They were outside a restaurant that Caleb insisted that they stop at. He told Vince he just wanted to check something. He came out with a girl hanging onto his arm.

Caleb groaned, "I told you, me and Chelsea are going to see a movie. You can come but you might feel like a third wheel."

He grabbed Caleb's arm, turned to Chelsea and said, "Will you excuse us for a moment?" Before she had barely nodded, Vince pulled Caleb around the corner into an ally.

"Jeez, if you wanted to talk to me, you could've just said so!" Caleb said angrily.

Vince ignored the comment and said, "How is it that you can walk into a restaurant and not even 5 minutes later, come out with a girl and say you're going out with her?"

Caleb thought for a moment and said, "It's my charm, no girl can resist me."

"Yeah, that's good for you," Vince said, "But you couldn't get a date for _me_ too?!"

Caleb seemed genuinely surprised. "I thought you wouldn't want to go out with another girl, seeing as you're hung up over Hikari…."

"Oh, shut up!" Vince snapped angrily. Then, more calmly, he said "You and Chelsea go out; I'll spend the rest of the day doing…..something."

"Are you ok with that?" Caleb said concerned, "I could cancel, of course, it would break Chelsea's heart…..but she'll get through it, she's strong."

"'Break her heart'?! And how would you know she's strong? You've known her for less than 10 minutes!" Vince said laughing.

"I'm the type of guy who can tell what a girl is like right away. The ladies love it!. They fall in love with me with just one look."

"I'll believe _that_ when I see it."

Vince wandered all over Upper Central for hours. He went into different shops and parks to try to pass the time. He soon got bored and walked in a straight line for a long time.

Soon, he found himself in the Lower Central. This wasn't a very safe part of the city; it was riddled with crime and gang activity. It was easy to fall pray to a theft or murder, but Vince knew better. For the first 4 years of his life, he had lived on the streets with his mother. He learned things then that he knew he would never forget. His mother had also often told him stories about when she lived on the streets as a teenager after having a fight with her parents. Between his mother's stories and his own experience of street life, Vince wasn't likely to fall into a con or trap set up by gang members hungry for cash.

A few moments later, Vince passed by a crowd of 5 teenage boys sitting around a stairway. One of the boys spotted Vince and pointed him out to his companions.

He's scrawny and unarmed. The boy said, besides, even if he doesn't have anything worth taking, it would be fun to mess him up a little.

His fellows nodded in agreement and they slowly got up to follow Vince.

Vince saw what was happening out of the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. Those guys don't know what they're getting into, he thought. I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.

He purposely made a turn into a narrow ally, hoping that the gang would follow him. They did.

The five boys walked into the ally, it was empty.

"What the hell!" One of the boys said, "I was sure he went down this way!"

"Calm down, he's probably hiding somewhere." Said the one next to him.

"Let's look around a little." Another suggested, "He couldn't have gotten very far…"

"Hey! Kid! You in here!?" The first boy called out, "We won't hurt you, we just want your money!"

"Yeah, and to re-arrange your face." The smallest boy muttered. The first boy elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shut up!" He said, "He won't come out if he thinks we'll hurt him!"

"The hell with this!" the third boy said as he turned over a garbage can. "Let's just find him and beat the crap out of him!"

"Nice idea, I'm getting bored with this whole 'playing nice' deal. I wanna see some blood shed!" Another one said.

The first boy sighed and said, "Fine, I thought we could try a more diplomatic approach to this, but if you guys want to see some blood, go ahead."

"Thank you!" Said the boy who had turned over the trash can.

The small gang got to work turning over trash cans and tossing over bags. However, when the whole ally was clear, Vince was no where to be found."

"Looking for me?" A voice said from the mouth of the ally. The boys turned to see the speaker. Vince was standing at the entrance to the ally.

The first boy said, "If you drop you're money and walk away, we won't hurt you."

Vince pretended to look like he was considering. He took out his wallet and held up a roll of 20 dollar bills. He could see the boys practically drooling over the cash.

"You mean _this_ money?" Vince said as he held it up higher.

"Give us the money, you little punk!" One of the boys growled.

"I don't think I will." Vince said smugly as he put the wallet back into his pocket along with the money.

"Give us the money you little bastard or you die!" The boy said.

"Oh? And how are you planning on doing that?" Vince said mockingly.

"You must have a death wish!" The boy said as he came closer. "You're surrounded! Give us the money and we'll only break a few of your ribs!"

Vince chuckled slightly, "I suggest you guys just walk away, trust me, you don't want to start a fight with me."

"What the hell is so funny?!" The boy said, "You really think you can take us all on?!"

"No, I don't think I can." Vince said then smiled, "I _know_ I can!"

"You cocky little bastard." The boy growled, "You just bought yourself a one way ticket to hell! Tito, take him out!" The largest boy rushed at Vince and made a grab for him. Vince smoothly sidestepped it. And he continued to dodge the large boy's attacks.

"All you've got going for you is strength," Vince explained as he dodged yet another blow. "You need speed. I spar with my brother all the time. I can usually block his strikes, and he's way faster then you!"

The boy stopped. He was out of breath. Perfect, Vince thought. Now's my chance! He delivered a powerful kick to the side of the boy's head. The boy went ridged and instantly fell to the floor.

The other boys stared at Vince in wonder.

"You…..killed Tito…" One boy finally said.

"No, I didn't kill him." Vince said, "I didn't hit him hard enough to kill him, but he is going to be out for a few hours. You might want to get him home."

Three of the boys nodded mutely and picked up Tito and tried to drag him out of the ally.

Vince turned to leave. "Excuse me, sir?" Vince turned. The one who had spoken was the first boy, the one who had ordered Tito to attack him.

"Yeah?" Vince said slightly irritated.

"My name is Luke and…..I was wondering….where did you learn to fight like that?" The boy said. He was completely different from the though talking mini-gang leader he had been a moment ago. He sounded like an elementary school kid talking to his idol.

"I learned from a friend of mine who's been practicing martial arts for years." He answered.

"Really?!" Luke said, wide eyed. "Do you think he could teach me?"

"No." Vince said.

The boy's face fell. "Why not?" he asked.

"For starters, my friend wouldn't like to teach someone who would use fighting for robbing people." Vince said, "And it's very hard to learn, I still have a hard time with it."

"Wow! This guy must be amazing to be using such an awesome fighting style and have no problems!" Luke said, "If I don't use what your friend teaches me to hurt people, would he teach me?"

"I don't know…" Vince said, "If you keep saying 'he' my friend _really_ won't help you."

"Why not?"

"Because, my friend is a _girl_ and last time I checked, if you call a girl _he_ she will beat your face in." Vince answered.

"Wait a minute," Luke said, "Are you saying that you learned to fight from a _girl_?"

"She's been practicing many different types of martial arts since she could walk," Vince said, "Or so she tells me."

"Really? She doesn't sound like any of the girls I've met…." The boy answered.

Vince laughed and said, "Well, she's one of a kind." A moment later he said, "Hey kid, how old are you anyway?"

"I'll be fourteen next month." Luke said slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh-huh." Vince said, "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Shouldn't you?!" The boy said angrily, then, remembering that he was talking to a guy who had taken down someone 5 times larger then him with one kick, he added, "I don't go to school. I dropped out a few months ago."

"And your friends?"

"They're all drop outs too."

"Why did all of you drop out?"

The boy's eye flashed angrily, "Because all of the teachers have such a holier-then-thou attitude and treat all of the students like we're some kind of trash polluting their classrooms! They throw parties whenever someone from Lower Central drops out!"

"So, because the teachers expect you to be a drop out and amount to nothing, you do it? Kinda a weird way to prove them wrong….." Vince said, "I felt like that when I did go to school."

"So what did you do about it? Drop out?"

"Well kinda…..but not because of the teachers. Because I had to help a friend."

"Your reason sounds a helluva lot better then mine!" Luke said as he turned to leave.

"Wait up a sec." Vince said. Luke stopped and turned. "Why don't you drop the though gangster act and try getting a job? Trust me; it's a whole lot easier to make money that way. Or you could just go back to school."

"Maybe…" Luke said uncertainly.

Vince thought for a moment then reached into his pocket and pulled out two 20 dollar bills. He handed them to Luke and said, "Here, take this and don't try to rob anyone else because next time you could go after the wrong person who will hurt you or worse."

Luke merely nodded mutely. He was finally able to squeak out, "Thank you!" and ran out of the ally to show his friends what he had.

Poor kid, Vince thought. He's acting like that's the most money he's ever seen in his life……maybe it is. He started to walk down the street. He looked at the setting sun and thought, Wow! It's that late already? I should get home or my mom will freak! Well, when she finds out I went to Lower Central alone……she'll _still_ freak! He sighed and started the walk home.


	6. Chapter 6: The Alchemy Assessment

normally, I don't give any comments before a chapter but there are a few things I feel I have to say:

1: sorry it took so long to get this up. I've had a small case of laziness that will pass...eventually.

2: I would like to apologize for the suckiness of chapter5. I had severe writers block do to a homework overdose and sleep deprivation(which was because of the homework overdose.) So I couldn't write as well as I normally could.

3: I hope you like this chapter!

CHAPTER 6: The Alchemy Assessment

"You ready?" Caleb asked Hikari as she came into the kitchen. It was the day of the alchemy re-evaluations and Hikari wasn't looking too thrilled about it.

She groaned in response to Caleb's question and plopped down into a chair. She had spent most of the night studying so she was dead tired. As Hikari sat down, Vince entered the kitchen. He was cheerful, as he always was in the morning.

"Good morning!" Vince said as he sat down next to Hikari. He looked at her. She had her head on the table and her arms over it.

"She dead?" He asked Caleb. Without moving her head from the table, Hikari kicked Vince in his shin. He winced.

"Nope, she's just a regular Miss sunshine as always." Caleb replied sarcastically.

Vince grunted and said, "I coulda guessed that." He rubbed his injured shin and turned to Hikari. "Shouldn't you be dressed? I mean, you have to be down at H.Q in a few hours, right?"

Hikari glared at him and slowly got up. She walked down the hall and out of sight.

"Wow." Caleb said, "I'm surprised she didn't beat the crap out of you. You know it's not safe to mess with her this early in the morning. Especially with the re-assessments today….."

Vince grinned and said, "But it wouldn't be fun if she didn't get mad about it."

Caleb sighed and picked up a paper. "One of these days you'll go too far and _I'm_ the one who will end up picking out the flowers for your funeral!" He looked at the paper for a moment then immediately his eyes widened. "Holy crap! Vince, look at this!"

Vince leaned over to get a better look at the article. The headline was:

**Man Missing, Foul Play Suspected**

Underneath it was a photo of a man with a scarred face wearing an expensive looking suit, however, clearly on the man's exposed wrist, was a green serpent tattoo. The caption read:

_Jake Hunt, a local Central man, has been missing for the last week. Mr. Hunt was last seen departing from the apartment in Downtown Central_ _where he lives. Although it is unclear what Mr. Hunt's specific job is, it is known that he is a generous contributor to the Central community and his disappearance has caused concern all over the city. Anyone with any information on Mr. Hunt is to call this number immediately. _

A number was listed on the bottom of the page, but that wasn't what Vince and Caleb were interested in. They both continued to stare open mouthed at the picture of the assassin who had tried to kill Hikari.

"'A_ generous contributor'??_!! Do they have any idea that this guy is an assassin who's responsible for possibly hundreds of murders?!" Vince said angrily

"The media _never_ knows when they actually have a story. They get all of the facts wrong when they don't think it's important." Caleb said. He re-read the caption again. "The generous contributor part means that he just gave a lot of money to the city council." He snorted. "Probably bribes to get them to keep his little 'business' quite."

Vince nodded slightly. He looked troubled.

"Something wrong?" Caleb asked him

Vince bit his lip and said, "It's probably nothing, but I have a really bad feeling."

"Why?" Caleb asked.

"Well, you know how the last thing Hikari remembered was blacking out?"

"Yeah…."

"She saws that she can't remember how she got to the hospital and I highly doubt Hunt had a moment of realization and decided to help her."

"You're losing me, man."

"I'm probably just being paranoid but what if there was someone else there? Someone who brought Hikari to the hospital and caused Hunt's disappearance?"

"Hold on Vince, that sounds like a nice little theory in your head, but I think it's impossible for someone who could take on an armed man _and_ still have strength left to carry Hikari. She's pretty light by herself, but that automail I made for her is strong stuff! This guy you're talking about would have to be a super human!" Caleb said.

Vince gave him an uneasy smile and said, "Yeah, you're probably right. But I still would like an explanation for Hikari's lack of memory of how she got to the hospital."

At that moment there was a knock on the door, Caleb got up to answer it. When he saw who was on the other side of the door he exclaimed, "Monica!"

Vince came into the hallway and saw his cousin standing in the doorway.

"Hi!" She said cheerfully and came into the hallway. She was holding a suit case in each hand.

"Umm….hi…" Vince said, surprised at Monica's arrival. He noticed the suit cases and said, "What are those for?" Though he was already dreading the answer.

"Oh? Auntie didn't tell you?" Monica said, "My grandparents are sick so I'll be staying with you guys!"

Vince and Caleb's jaws dropped at the same time. They both liked Monica but she could be…..overbearing…..at times.

"I'll be staying in the second guest room right?" Monica said, "You two can carry up my stuff for me!" She floated up the stairs and out of sight.

Vince turned to Caleb and said, "You do know that, with her here, it's gonna be like living in hell, right?"

Caleb groaned and said, "Think we can still make a break for it?"

"Oh boys! I'm waiting for my luggage!" Monica said from upstairs.

"Too late." Vince said sadly as he picked up the suit case and started up the stairs.

Caleb sighed and said, "That was what I was afraid of." He followed Vince up the stairs.

"Hey!" Hikari said as she came into the living room. "Did you guys know Monica's here?"

"Unfortunately." Vince grumbled.

"What's his problem?" Hikari asked Caleb, who just shrugged.

Monica walked into the room. "Hello everyone!" She said brightly and smiled. Hikari was the only one who smiled back. Vince and Caleb acknowledged her with a nodded.

Vince stood up and said, "Shouldn't we be going now?"

Hikari looked at her watch and said, "Yeah, it's going to start soon."

Monica looked at them in confusion. "What's going to start soon?"

"The alchemy assessments." Hikari answered glumly.

"Oh! Can I come?" Monica asked.

Hikari said, "Sure. But it might be pretty boring. The battle assessment is the only part that's opened to the public."

"That's ok!" Monica answered, "Vince and Caleb will entertain me until then!"

"And who decided that!?" Vince said angrily.

"I did." Monica said smugly as she followed Hikari out the door.

"But there's no way for you to get there!" Vince said when they got outside. "We only have three bikes and there is no way in hell I'm driving Cid's crappy car just so _you_ can come."

Monica thought a moment and replied, "I'll just ride with Caleb! It would be big enough for two people, right?"

Despite protests from both Caleb and Vince, Monica rode with Caleb to Central H.Q.

"See you guys later." Hikari said as she walked in. "Hopefully, I'll still have my watch when I leave."

Inside, many state alchemists were gathered. Most of which, like Hikari, seemed agitated by the short notice they had received 2 days before. As Hikari walked on, she saw many faces she recognized. There was the Strong Arm alchemist Norman Armstrong, the Silver Wind alchemist Lydia Shamus, the Solid Earth alchemist Floyd Seaman, and a few others. Hikari also saw Seth Rivers and tried very hard to keep him from seeing her. Besides seeing people she knew, Hikari also saw countless alchemists that she didn't know. However, many of them seemed to know her. As she walked on, she could feel many eyes on her. She stood out like a sore thumb here. Most alchemists were dressed in the traditional blue military uniform. Hikari refused to wear the uniform because she claimed couldn't move around easily while wearing it (the real reason is that they aren't made for people with her……height deficiency). She was also the only person there under 25. The person closest to her age that she knew was Lydia and she was 29.

"Will everyone who is here for the alchemy re-assessments, please report to the testing area." A voice that came from the intercom said. Immediately, the room emptied. Hikari had no idea where the testing area was this year, so she just followed the crowd.

They came into a brightly lit room filled with desks and long tables. A woman appeared through a side door and said, "Please sit down and begin the test. You will have 3 hours to complete the test and may leave whenever you've finished. You may leave during the test only for emergencies. I have been asked to remind you that cheating of any kind will result in failing and a fine of $200.00. When you finish, please let me know and then you'll be allowed to leave."

Hikari sat down and began to write. She finished in an hour. She didn't check over her work. Why bother? She thought, everything is right anyway. Hikari placed her test face down and leaned back in her chair as the woman approached her.

"Done already, Hikari?" she asked.

"Yup." Hikari said as she handed the woman her test.

"You finished early, as always. The next potion of the assessment will begin in about 3 hours, so don't stray too far or you won't make it back in time." The woman said as she took the test.

"I won't be _too_ far away." Hikari answered as she walked out.

She walked out of Central H.Q and into the bright sunlight. The others are probably long gone by now, it would take 3 hours just to find them. She thought, I guess I'll just wander around for awhile until the next assessment….. She started to walk down the street when she heard someone call her name. She turned and smiled when she saw who it was. Devon was waving and jogging towards her.

"Hey!" She said.

"Hi!" He answered, "What brings you over here?"

"The date of the alchemy assessments was moved up." Hikari explained. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I live nearby." He answered, "I just wanted to get out of my house for awhile."

Hikari smiled, "Your aunt still setting you up on weird dates?"

"Yeah." He answered with a smile. "Hey, do you have some time? Maybe we could get some coffee or something?"

"Sure!" Hikari answered, "I have 3 hours till the next assessment. So I don't have to be back for about 2 and a half hours."

"Great!" Devon answered, "There's this place nearby that makes a pretty good cup of coffee…..or anything else you want."

"Ok." Hikari said, "Since you paid last time, I'll pay now."

Devon pretended to look shocked and said, "What kind of gentleman lets a lady pay for a meal? I insist that I pay."

Hikari laughed and said, "Well if the gentleman insists, I guess I can't really argue."

While Hikari was talking with Devon, Vince and Caleb were trapped in a living hell. Monica made them go shopping with her to carry her many purchases. Now, they were sitting on a bench inside a store while Monica tried on hundreds of outfits. Beside them were Monica's countless bags.

"Geez! How long is she gonna try this stuff on!?" Vince complained, "We've been here for hours already!"

"Patience, young grasshopper." Caleb said, "The more you complain, the longer she'll be here."

"And how do you know that?!" Vince said angrily.

"Simple logic, my dear in-experience brother." Caleb said with a smirk. "If she thinks we're enjoying ourselves, she'll want to leave. If she thinks we're _not_ having fun, she'll want to prolong our suffering and stay her longer."

Vince looked at him blankly and said, "Man…….that is some seriously twisted logic. Monica's bad but she's not totally _evil_."

"OK! I'm done!" Monica said as she came out of the dressing room. "Would you boys mind carrying this stuff to the cash register for me?"

Vince was about to say something like no-way-in-hell-I'd-rather-die-then carrying-your-stuff, but he remembered Caleb's advice (however twisted it may be) and decided to give it a try.

He took a deep breath and said, "Sure Monica, it would be a pleasure to carry your bags for you."

Monica smiled and said, "Good. If that's how you feel, I can shop for longer! I wouldn't want to deny you the pleasure of carrying my bags!" She walked off behind a rack of clothing.

Vince gave Caleb a venomous look.

"Umm……sorry?" Caleb said with a nervous smile.

"When we leave here, you're dead."

"I figured that…."Caleb looked at his watch and said, "Oh! It's almost time for the battle assessment." He turned behind him and shouted, "Hey, Monica! It's time to go. We need to be at Central H.Q soon!"

Monica came out from behind a stack of jeans and said, "Fine, I'll come here later with Hikari and we can get some _real_ shopping done." She walked over to the two boys and said, "Well? Hurry up! My bags won't carry themselves!"

"I should get going; the next part of the assessments is going to start soon." Hikari said.

"Ok. Good luck!" Devon said.

Hikari walked up the steps to Central Headquarters and through the huge double doors. When she walked in, the voice over the intercom said, "All alchemists taking the battle assessment portion of the alchemy assessment please report to the third conference room."

I got here just in time, Hikari thought as she (and all other alchemists in the room) started towards the conference room.

The conference room looked like an oversized auditorium. There were thousands of chairs facing a very large stage. Hikari took a seat in the back row as other alchemist started to fill in the seats. When everyone was seated, all attention was turned to the stage. There were 5 people seated in fold-up chairs behind the podium. One of them got up and walked over to the podium. She had long, black hair that went down to her elbows and was wearing the standard blue military uniform. However, hers had more golden medals and badges adorning then most. This was Renee Mustang, the Furhrer.

"First off, I would like to welcome everyone for coming here. I know most of you would much rather be somewhere else and don't appreciate this coming up on such short notice." She started. There were a few snickers and nods of agreement from the crowd. She started to speak again, "For this year's assessment, we have an odd number of alchemists. So, _I_ will be participating this year." There were some gasps of surprised from the audience. "Before we begin, I would like to remind you of the rules for the battle assessment:

One: Remember that civilians will be watching so, please; try not to hit any spectators. If any bystanders die, the media will be all over us for weeks.

Two: Try to keep the blood shed to a minimum. I don't feel like being sued for damages.

Three: Please, Please, Please _try_ not to kill each other! We have few enough alchemists as it is! Plus, filling out that paper work for a funeral is annoying."

There were more scattered chuckles and snickers, and a few brave people actually laughed out loud.

"The choosing of whom will fight who will be decided randomly with the electric board you see behind me. Every alchemists name and information has been programmed into the board's system and it will randomly select the opponents. Now, let's see who you'll be fighting against."

The board suddenly lit up and began to make a soft humming noise. In a matter of seconds, two lists of names came up on the screen.

"The person who is the same number as you on the other list will be your opponent."

Hikari held her breath as she looked for her name on the list. She was number 13. Figures, she thought, the board has a pretty good sense of humor for an inanimate object. She looked at the corresponding number on the second list……and almost fell over when she saw who it was.


End file.
